The Record Newspaper 31 December 2008

How the global media turned a defence of the beauty of marriage into an attack on same-sex attracted people...

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A Christmas Tale

How one surprised individual and the St Vincent De Paul Society made the difference in an abused family’s life.

It was a warm summer evening. I was enjoying the Christmas spirit with my family and friends. Yes it had been a good day; Mass, presents, sumptuous lunch and then an evening barbecue, good company and a secure laid back atmosphere.

At about 9.30pm on Christmas night 2007 I received a desperate mobile call. I could hear fear and desperation in the voice of a young mother as she was being threatened and berated by her partner. I could decipher threats of violence, young children crying. A young mother I hardly knew was on the phone, explaining how her alcohol and drug affected former partner was being very violent and threatening all manner of revenge. A young 30 year old man, who should be enjoying his young family two of whom were still in nappies, the others primary-aged children.

I represented the only thread of hope she could think of. I was shocked and confused about what I could hear in the background and what she was telling me.

I felt compassion for this sobbing woman and her four young children. I could hear the anger and profanities, furniture being thrown and walls broken.

in the news

288 sex abuse claimants in Alaskan Diocese

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (CNS) - The number of people claiming to have been sexually abused by Catholic priests and other church workers in the Fairbanks Diocese in Alaska over the past 60 years more than doubled after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in March. The diocese said 288 people have made abuse claims against more than 40 individuals, with most cases relating to childhood sexual abuse. Filing for bankruptcy is “the best way to bring all parties together and to provide for fair and equitable treatment of all who have been harmed,” said Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler in announcing the decision. “I am legally and morally bound to both fulfill our mission and to pursue healing for those injured.”

Pope encourages archaeological study of society’s Christian roots

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI said Christian archaeology was an especially important field of study today, offering Western society a way to renew its Christian roots. Those working in the archaeology of the early Christian period have the task of drawing new meaning from ancient sites and artifacts, the Pope told members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology on December 20. Research of ancient monuments and artifacts allows society to “rediscover its roots and draw upon cultural and spiritual elements that can help it build a more human civilisation today,” he said.

Immediately I began to try to access the situation. She explained that he had taken her mobile phone. After some hours of abuse and growing violence, he allowed her to call me. I did not know what I could do as she was some 3-4 hours away from me in the country. I suggested she hang up and I would alert the police. She feared for her life and wanted to maintain the connection with me.

I was concerned for her and the children. She said one had run away from the house and the older one was hiding in the house. The two youngest were huddled and crying. I could hear twin cries.

Eventually I calmed her down a little and explained that if she hung up I’d alert the Police. After some coaxing, she did.

As the Police proceeded to her residence, I phoned her back to reassure her the police were on their way. I asked to speak to the father. Eventually he came to the phone. I asked him his age because I could not think of what else to say. Then I said, “Well its Christmas day”, that the children I could hear crying were his and he should not harm them; the woman he was abusing was their mother. The hand of the Lord worked through me. He calmed a little.

In the meantime the police arrived. More violence and confrontation, but this time with experienced police officers. They took him away.

The mother bundled the kids in the car and drove away into the night with few belongings. Two and a half hours later she arrived at my farm block. Like Mary and Joseph, she settled in the manger for the night; no running water, a single donger accommodation. I was a further 2 hours away in Perth.

a one night room and moved them in. I told her to put the kids under the shower to cool them down - it worked.

So, while she did this, I went on with the search for accommodation and found a caravan park bungalow for her. She is still there a year later.

Christmas lunch for them was a cold meat and salad affair in a park, out of shop wrappings on a very hot 2007 Boxing Day.

The local St Vincent de Paul came to her aid after a few days. What an outstanding job they did.

The mother was a young woman with many issues. She had been deprived of love in her life and was struggling. In seeking SVDP help I explained that we could not judge the morals of the parents but only seek to support and assist for the sake of the children in a spirit of christian charity.

The St Vincent de Paul Society came with food, toys and heaps of christian love and charity. The family settled as the SVDP ladies taught the mother to shop, cook wholesome meals and so a broken family gradually became stable. There was love there but not much else.

A mother who could not cope; who, with no family support, was estranged from her children because of an abusive partner, gradually took control of her life.

future holds for them. But the footsteps in the sand have carried her for over a year through our Mother, the Church. The SVDP were instruments the Lord used to help these desperate souls.

Can any of you reading this brief but true account imagine such a Christmas, or such neglect of your children or grandchildren?

Their lives are shattered. Neither parent can offer the full material and emotional nourishment children so badly need. The mother offers their best chance and only with the support of the Church and our prayers can she hope to succeed to any degree.

The psychologists dealing with this case have discussed various aspects with me. They have questioned my motives in assisting a stranger I had only met a few times, and through the Church and SVDP. They were puzzled why a stranger and SVDP would offer time and money over an extended period.

I explained it was due to my Catholic upbringing and family heritage. One turned his nose up and made uncomplimentary remarks about the Church. I was bemused but continued to work with them in a spirit of christian charity.

A year later, this same psychologist said to me that I was the most Christian man he had ever known - I am humbled. But once again, by living my faith I have touched a soul.

Next morning, on Boxing Day I went to her and there they were; dehydrated, hungry and disheveled. The children were expiring in the 40 degree heat. A bucket of water from a cattle trough was being used to cool the younger ones. “Jesus help us”, I thought.

What a desperate situation. So like the Holy Family. I went from caravan park to caravan park to find a room. Holiday time, no vacancies. Eventually I secured

The mother found a devotion to Our Lady and on her own account bought holy candles and pictures of Mary. She said she had seen this devotion to Mary at a seniors’ home she once worked at. She told me how, when cleaning the chapel, she would look at Mary’s statue, touch it and recite the Hail Mary as she heard the residents pray. The hand of the Lord was at work.

Now a year later, with a lot of support, she has been awarded custody of the children. Some level of stability has returned to their lives. The children, particularly the older ones, are damaged from a life of neglect. God only knows what the

All this came from a desperate call for help on Christmas night 2007. Pray for this family and for those like them who suffer at Christmas. My motive for writing this brief account of events is to recognise the work of the Church and the hand of the Lord in our lives. God bless the SVDP.

Like so many of us I am far from perfect. I fail the test so many times but I continue to strive to improve.

Name and address supplied

The Society of St Vincent De Paul can be contacted on (08) 9475 5400

Turbulent year ends cheerfully for crisis centre

■ By Anthony Barich

PREGNANCY crisis centre

Pregnancy Assistance received a timely boost when over 300 people gathered at the Redemptorist Monastery on December 14 for a Thanksgiving Mass for God’s help in its work.

Over $450 was also gained through raffle sales. The large turnout was somewhat unexpected but also a sign of hope for organisers, who have suffered setbacks of late. Nuns from the New Apostolate Consecrated to the Heart of the Holy Family who have provided care at Miriam’s House for five years have withdrawn to consolidate their community.

Pregnancy Assistance has also no longer been able to provide emergency housing to women with an unexpected pregnancy since April due to a lack of suitable live-in carers.

Brian Peachey, inaugural and current chairman of Pregnancy Assistance, said that it is “important that we continue to provide a haven for homeless pregnant women”.

However, there were signs of hope as Priests from all over the Archdiocese, including Fr Paul Fox, parish priest of Gin Gin/Chittering, plus Redemptorist priests, Franciscans of the Immaculate, a priest of the Neocatechumenal Way and a Franciscan of the Order of the Friars Minor, gathered to concelebrate the Thanksgiving Mass with Archbishop Barry Hickey.

Mr Peachey told supporters on December 14 that “you are helping

to repair damage done by the parliaments”, referring to the legalisation of abortion on demand by WA Parliament in 1996, the year Pregnancy Assistance started.

“You have saved the lives of many of the most innocent, who would otherwise have been killed by legalised abortion,” he said, but conceded that he could not see an end to the killing.

“The majority of those in power today would vigorously oppose any change that would reduce the number of unborn children being killed.

“We need to be reminded that in Perth they kill one baby every hour of every day.”

Mr Peachey said society is also indebted to the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants who have maintained prayerful vigils outside abortion clinics, resulting in some women deciding not to go through with the procedure, as counsellors have also been on hand to help with the pray-ers.

He called on Perth Catholics to increase the numbers who pray with the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, as “it seems that only the power of prayer will stop legalised abortion”.

Mr Peachey also said that Catholics need to educate the community and get the message out to women contemplating abortion that there is an alternative and that there is “real and loving support”.

Pregnancy Assistance’s most effective instrument, Abundant Life magazine, has now become subscription-based rather than free in Perth parishes to cover costs of printing and postage.

Youth Ministry expands

■ By Anthony Barich

PERTH’S Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Ministry office has undergone significant expansion.

Over 80 leaders and young Catholics from around Perth gathered on December 17 at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate for Mass, Six30 Holy Hour and a presentation on the Youth Vision and direction for the Catholic youth scene in 2009 as CYM’s new team was rolled out.

New Catholic Youth Ministry director Anita Parker announced the two new youth ministry project workers for the Perth CYM office.

They are Olivia Lavis, formerly of the international evangelical Emmanuel Community, and Spanish-speaking Catherine Martinez, who is currently studying a Masters in media studies at Murdoch University and is also heavily involved in her local parish in Willagee.

Miss Parker told The Record that their role will involve helping parishes to set up and coordinate youth ministry and providing leadership training to youth leaders.

The full CYM team will be commissioned early in 2009.

Tung Nguyen from Morley’s Infant Jesus parish and Ursuline Sister Maria Mori also gave testimonies on December 17 of their experiences at the Sydney National Youth Leaders gathering and were very energetic about sharing the National Vision post-World Youth Day.

Archbishop wrapped for celebration of priesthood

Indian tradition

FATHER Maria Joseph, of Kalgoorlie, and Fr

Denis Vaiz, from the diocese of Tuticorin in Chennai, India visited Archbishop Hickey on December 18 to carry out the Indian tradition of wrapping a golden jubilarian in a shawl.

December 20 was the fiftieth anniversary of the Archbishop’s ordination in Rome in 1958.

Fr Joseph is also from Chennai as are Fr Paul Raj, of Kalamunda, and Fr Joseph Rathnaraj, of Kalgoorlie.

Fr Denis Vaiz works at the Santhome Communications Centre, the Tamilnadu Bishops’ Council Office of Social Communication.

Australia’s bishops approved a blueprint on Catholic youth ministry within days of the meeting, at which the document was produced.

Miss Parker also spoke on the Archdiocesan Youth Vision and the movement forward to work together with agencies, movements and parishes in a coordinated approach to youth ministry. A centralised calendar of events will be hosted on the CYM website: www.cym.com, and a range of online resources will be developed, plus a web presence in xt3 and Facebook. A copy of the calendar can be lifted out of this week’s edition of The Record

Former Bunbury youth worker Malcolm was also announced as the National Youth Worker, who will incorporate the coordination of the tasks outlined by Sr Maria and Tung at the December 17 presentation regarding the outcomes of the National Youth Leaders Gathering in November.

The themes for the next WYD’s were also announced as Pope Benedict XVI released these from the Vatican that day.

These are:

● 24th World Youth Day (2009): “We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God” (1 Tim 4:10)

● 25th World Youth Day (2010): “Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?” (Mk 10:17)

● 26th World Youth Day (2011, to be hosted by Madrid, Spain): “Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith” (cf Col 2:7).

Among other things, he and his colleagues prepare radio and television programs which are sent to Manilla in the Philippines and broadcast from there back to India.

Fr Denis said the office received about 25,000 letters a year in response to the radio programs alone.

The communications office also conducted seminars for priests and religious on the technical aspects of preparing video and radio programs.

Choir attends

A contingent from the Cathedral Choir under director of music Jacinta Jakovcevic attended the Church Office on Friday morning to perform for the Archbishop before the morning tea to celebrate his golden jubilee of priesthood, opening with Panis Angelicus. He told the boys he had been one of the soloists whenever that hymn was sung during his seminary days in Rome.

Vicar General Fr Brian O’Loughlin congratulated the Archbishop on his jubilee, and the Archbishop’s Secretary Jane Pilkington presented gifts on behalf the office. Archbishop Hickey thanked God for 50 years of priesthood and thanked those who had helped and supported him during those years.

Thankyou

The Archbishop wishes to thank all who sent him congratulatory messages for his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood and for their prayers. A public Mass will be held in 2009 after the Cathedral’s completion for his 50 years of priesthood and his 25 years as a bishop.

Happiness: Fr Maria Joseph travelled from Kalgoorlie to join his friend, Fr Denis Vaiz, a visitor from Chennai, in wrapping Archbishop Hickey in a golden shawl.

PHOTO: FR ROBERT CROSS

First Campion graduates out

Future leaders graduate as Campion College reaches milestone.

■ By Anthony Barich

THE first class of the Catholic liberal arts university Campion College graduated on December 5 at the University of Sydney’s Great Hall.

Campion College, opened in 2006 as the first Liberal Arts college in Australia, covers humanities and sciences. Its 12 graduates, from New Zealand, the United States, NSW, Queensland and Victoria, did core subjects of history, literature, philosophy, theology and sciences including bioethics.

The college is growing exponentially, with the 12 graduating students to be replaced by up to 30 new ones - including its first enrolment from WA in 2009 – bringing the overall total to about 80. Four South Australians enrolled last year for the first time.

Campion College students undertake a three-year undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. The studies are pre-vocational as students are primarily formed in faith and reason before deciding on a career path or vocational program elsewhere.

Karl Schmude, co-founder of Campion College with Brisbane businessman James Power Snr, said the college’s specific purpose is to nurture leaders for society and the Church.

This is done within a Catholic spiritual, liturgical and intellectual culture to produce students who can write and speak persuasively as people of faith “so they can bring that faith to bear on the culture around them, in their own societies and internationally”.

Mr Schmude told The Record that the students’ education serves as a counter-cultural force to balance the post-modernism of secular universities.

“In these universities, once you separate faith from reason you end up with ‘unreason’ – the irrational. Reason divorced from faith is simply an instrument of knowledge; but you need faith to shape the overall vision

of life,” he said. “So to prepare a student for any career students need to be immersed in the full riches of knowledge in a culture that requires faith as well as reason.”

In this light, Bishop Kevin Manning of Parramatta, whose diocese hosts the college, told those graduating that “fearlessness in the advocacy of human dignity, love, and proclamation of the mission of Christ” must underpin all their deeds from now on.

The bishop added that living the Beatitudes is more important than “being right”, even when amongst other Catholics.

“Humility is a virtue which well becomes a graduate in the Liberal Arts. This applies to Church matters as it does to all areas of life,” he said.

“Some Catholics persuade themselves that it is their mission to correct everybody else, other Catholics in particular: to develop a Church of those who are right, rather than a Church of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, justice and love.”

He said that as the graduates go out into the world, the Good News must be more than just informative, but “performative – producing a life-change in us”. “Is it a message which shapes our life in a new way. Have we the courage to grasp its promise and change our lives? How, asks Pope Benedict, is our Christian faith for us today a life-changing and life-sustaining hope?”

He also stressed the need for forgiveness, which is the cornerstone of any justice they may seek to achieve in their lives, professional or otherwise.

“Sometimes, in the religious context, you hear it said that there is a crisis of faith. That may be, but I think there is a crisis of forgiveness, the world over. Without justice, there is no peace and without forgiveness there is no justice; and with forgiveness comes reconciliation, joy and peace,” he said.

Speaking about “the primacy of love”, the bishop said that the challenge for the Church, and the graduates, is “to call men and women away from the self, and self-made ideologies, to the Other, the Transcendent, the God of Love, who fills us with love, and impels us to collaborate with others to make the Kingdom here on earth a kingdom of justice, love and peace”.

The next step for these future leaders...

On December 5, twelve students graduated from Campion College’s first group since the liberal arts institute started three years ago. Here, The Record reveals what they will be pursuing next.

Tim Wallace, Madeleine Meese, Elanor Hitchings and Kate Bateman will all be undertaking post graduate study to become teachers.

Both Kate and Madeleine are from Melbourne will return home and fulfil their scholarship requirements from the Melbourne Catholic Education Office.

Madeleine will go to the University of Melbourne and Madeleine to ACU Melbourne and is keen to teach history and religion. Kate will be a Physical Education teacher.

Tim will be going into primary teaching at Charles Sturt University and Elanor will be going to the University of Sydney‘s teacher education program.

As a consequence of relationships built at Campion College through its United States partners, Conor Power is weighing up a number of options including an internship at a Washington DC political think tank.

Olivia Meese will be pursuing a career in medicine but will take a year off to travel to Europe.

Molly Healy is Camption College’s first graduate from the United States and she will return to Boston.

She does not yet have a career in mind but she now has the potential to pursue any career choice.

There are over 400 Liberal Arts colleges in the United States, where employers understand the value of a liberal arts education.

Steven Woodnut will return to his native New Zealand, where he will seek an internship with a political party.

His ultimate aim is to be a member of the New Zealand diplomatic corps.

Johanna O Farrell will enter post-graduate study in literature at the University of Melbourne where she will pursue a career possibly in academia. Kieran Jackson has applied for post-graduate law at the University of Notre Dame.

A Campion spokesan said that Professor Gerard Ryan, the Dean of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, believes that the Liberal Arts are a wonderful pre-cursor to a law studies and a law career.

Nicolai Martinovic will attend the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies in Melbourne where he will be taking post-graduate studies in bio-ethics.

Charbel Trad will be pursuing a career in investment banking and will apply for a Master of Finance at the University of Western Sydney.

For details on Campion College, email info@campion.edu.au, call 02 9896 9300 or log onto http://www.campion.edu.au on the internet.

Go forth and lead: Campion College’s first 12 graduates celebrate after a ceremony at the University of Sydney’s Great Hall. The college prepares students intellectually and spiritually in the vein of liberal arts colleges in the United States.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CAMPION COLLEGE

Evangelisation in the 21st century

US bishop joins Facebook

■ By Tara Little

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNS) - The days of Facebook only being for university and high school students are long gone. Little Rock Bishop Anthony Taylor is believed to be the first US Catholic bishop to join the popular Web site.

As of December 11, he had 894 friends worldwide and counting.

Bishop Julian Porteous, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia, also has a Facebook profile page with 784 friends, as does Fr John Fleming, president of Australian Catholic Liberal Arts college Campion College, young Australian Dominican Fr Dominic Murphy OP and Jesuit Father Gregory Jordan, the chaplain of the Australian Catholic Students Association. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, also has a profile page.

Started in 2004, Facebook rivals MySpace as one of the largest social networking sites on the Internet. It is the fourth most-trafficked site in the world, according to comScore, an Internet research company.

Facebook reports more than 120 million registered users. Of these, the fastestgrowing segment is people 25 and older. The site is free to users, but small advertisements are interspersed with the content. Only Facebook members can view the site.

Members can join networks based on cities, workplaces and campuses to find friends and co-workers in the system. Every member has a profile page where he or she can add work and personal information, as well as install applications that perform a wide range of functions. Members can view their friends’ profile pages, send private messages, share photos and interact in a variety of ways. Based on their interests, members also can join groups and fan clubs.

Shortly after being ordained as Little Rock’s bishop in June, Bishop Taylor said he was told a fan club had been created about

him on Facebook. When he went online to look at the page, he realised he had to sign up to see it, so he did.

Not long after posting his information and a photo, the word spread fast and before long he had more friend requests and group invitations than he could keep up with.

“I want to be available and accessible to everybody in the diocese,” Bishop Taylor said of his membership on Facebook. “This is a way to be present to the younger people of the diocese.” Stephen Elser, 17, a senior at Catholic High School in Little

Young Christian Workers embark on a mission of inner redemption

Healing self comes before ministry to others, youth decide.

■

By

Anthony Barich

THE Australian Young Christian Workers have made a New Year’s Resolution to heal themselves from within so they can better carry out their ministry and live a more balanced life.

“Work for a just and meaningful life! Changing the culture of work” is the theme chosen by AYCW chose as its focus for the next two years.

The organisation will be lead by newly-elected national president Anne-Marie El Dick, and the social justice organisation will urge its employees, volunteers and members to prioritise the change in their own lives.

The theme was decided on at the AYCW’s December 11-14 National Council at Melbourne’s Mary MacKillop Centre. Delegates drafted a blueprint for the next two years.

Strategies include providing opportunities for young people to review their lives and work, running workshops on just and meaningful work and life, representing the reflections of young workers at all levels of Church, government and unions, and exploring the spirituality of work and life.

Ms El Dick, a fulltime AYCW employee in Parramatta before being elected president last month, said many young people involved in AYCW around the country are full-time professionals who volunteer their spare time to work in the movement’s many initiatives, including homework help for refugees and prison visitation.

In Perth, YCW members help run The Shopfront, which offers assistance, friendship, support and a referral service to the marginalised. They also participate in prison visits.

“What does our faith say about working purely for the pursuit of money and getting so immersed in work that we lose ourselves?” she said.

“So we’re focusing more actionreflection, continuing with all our services, but calling on our members to review their own lives and the culture of their work.”

The focus on a just and meaningful life and assessing and changing the culture of one’s work has always been at the core of AYCW’s vision, but “sometimes you can get caught up with doing the work of God without ever sitting back and really thinking about your own ship being in order”, she said.

Perth continues to have a prominent role in AYCW’s hierarchy, with Perth-based Marie Raheb the new national secretary, replacing fellow West Australian Sara Kane.

“We want to work together with other young people to change the culture of work,” Ms El Dick said.

Rock, attended Bishop Taylor’s ordination. Afterward Elser was so enthusiastic about the diocese finally having a bishop after a two-year period without one that he went onto Facebook and found the “Bishop Taylor Fan Club.” Its administrators had abandoned the page so he took it over and invited all his friends to join.

Elser said his goal was to get Bishop Taylor to join Facebook, which he did shortly thereafter. “It actually kind of surprised me; I mean I hoped he’d get one, but it was just surprising,” Elser told the Arkansas Catholic,

the diocesan newspaper. “I thank God he did because I like how he posts his homilies.”

Though unable to respond to the many messages he receives, Bishop Taylor is friends with people of all ages worldwide who are laypeople, clergy and religious.

The bishop also gets numerous invitations on Facebook to attend high school youth and campus ministry events from around the state.

“I’m able to go to very few of them, but I become aware of what’s going on. I want to be part of their lives,” Bishop Taylor said.

“Technology like anything has good points and weak points. But it can certainly be used to spread the Gospel and to build up the community.”

Many parish and diocesan leaders seem to agree. Several of Arkansas’ priests, religious, youth and campus ministry and religious education workers are also on Facebook for the same reason - to evangelise.

“It’s a tremendous tool of evangelisation,” said Father John Antony, pastor of St Raphael Church in Springdale. “Like St Paul used to write letters to the churches, we use notes on Facebook to reach people with the Gospel.”

He also posts homilies on Facebook and considers doing that a young adult ministry.

Catholic youths and youth ministers all over the world are using Facebook to make connections, share news about events or stay in touch. In the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, Deacon Jerry Ziemkiewicz, diocesan coordinator of youth ministry, has been using Facebook for a year and a half.

“It’s been a good tool for continuing to do our youth ministry beyond our youth group gatherings, beyond our church,” the deacon told the Catholic Chronicle, the diocesan newspaper. High school senior Shannon Spayde, who serves on the diocesan youth council, said:

“I thought it was really awesome that they wanted to participate in our lives and be a part of a thing that we were part of, so we could connect on another level,” said Spayde.

Contributing to this story was Laurie Stevens Bertke in Toledo.

“Brothers and sisters of the whole world, let us receive this invitation; let us approach the table of the word of God, so as to be nourished and live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

(Pope Benedict XVI)

Evening Sessions:

7.30 pm Friday Jan 23. Saturday Jan 24. Sunday Jan 25 2009.

Daytime Saturday Jan 24. 9 am - 11.30 am - 2.15 pm - 4.30 pm. Daytime Sunday Jan 25

am MASS - 11.30 am - 2.15 am - 4.30 pm.

Online: This is a screen grab of the Facebook page of Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas. In order to view his page, visitors must sign up for a free Facebook account and request to be his “friend.” PHOTO: CNS

John XXIII

The

Pastoral ministry renewal ‘top priority’

Don’t waste World Youth Day opportunities, Apostolic Nuncio tells young leaders

■ By Anthony Barich

POPE Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Nuncio to Australia says it is of “utmost importance” for the Catholic Church in Australia to renew pastoral ministry to capitalise on World Youth Day Sydney in July.

Of the “utmost importance is that the spirit of WYD is kept alive through the creative and appropriate initiatives aimed at fostering and renewing pastoral youth ministry,” Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto - from Padua, Italy - told the Australian bishops’ Plenary Meeting held at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney from November 24-28.

Throughout the week the bishops received briefings from WYD08 organisers, during which they focused on the xt3 social networking website, which now has more than 40,000 members.

While still facing stiff competition from facebook, even among young Catholics, the bishops said xt3 is proving to be a “popular and effective tool for youth ministry and for connecting with young people who might not be Church-goers”.

The Bishops formally thanked Cardinal Pell, Bishop Anthony Fisher and the staff of the Archdiocese of Sydney for all that they contributed to the organisation and conduct of WYD08 and approved a blueprint for the future of youth ministry co-ordination.

Also at the Plenary Meeting:

in brief...

● The bishops heard from Sr Anne Derwin rsj and Sr Maria Casey rsj on the progress of the canonisation process for Blessed Mary Mackillop.

The Josephite Sisters told the Australian bishops’ Plenary Meeting that the process continued “slowly and painstakingly, with a great deal of attention to detail from the Roman authorities”. There was still no indication of when the process might be

Hard to tell, but Missal Translation may be here by 2010

THE chairman of the Australian bishops’ Commission for Liturgy says the new English translation of the Latin Missal may be ready towards the end of 2010.

Australia’s bishops held a secret ballot at their Plenary Meetingheld at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney from November 24-28 - giving the required canonical approval to a number of liturgical texts.

The bishops approved the text of the “Grey Books”, or the final translation from the International Commission for English in the Liturgy (ICEL) on the Votive Mass, Masses for the Dead, The Commons, the Proper of Saints, the Introductory Documents, Antiphons and Appendices.

These were the final Grey Books to be issued and signify that the task of translating the Missal is now complete.

Chairman of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, said that while it was impossible to predict exactly when the new Missal would be published, current indications were that it might be towards the end of 2010.

He added that the Missal Implementation Team for Australia was still preparing for the publication of the new Missal. The Executive Secretary of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy, Fr Peter Williams, will coordinate and manage the international group charged with preparing the material.

It is anticipated that the implementation resource material would be ready by November 2009.

Catholic doctrine made simple as pamphlets prepared for parishes

THE Australian bishops’ Commission for Doctrine and Morals is preparing to publish a series of easy-to-read pamphlets on key areas of Catholic doctrine.

Six pamphlets will be prepared by the members of the Commission, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra-Goulburn, Melbourne Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Prowse, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney.

Melbourne Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott, who has published liturgical books previously, will also prepare one of the pamphlets.

They will be released to coincide with the feasts of Easter, Pentecost, the Assumption, Exaltation of the Cross, Christ the King and Christmas.

The pamphlets will examine the subjects of Christology, Truth in the Church, Christian understanding of the Body, Moral Truths, Eschatology and Salvation.

The Bishops Commission for Doctrine and Morals has also commissioned Dr Anne Hunt to develop a booklet on the Trinity. The booklet, directed to a general audience, including secondary students is expected to be ready for publication next year.

completed. Sr Maria has been appointed Postulator of the Cause for Blessed Mary Mackillop, at the request of the former Postulator, Fr Paul Gardiner SJ, who felt he was no longer able to travel to Rome as often as required.

● The bishops noted the retirement of Bishop Patrick Dougherty and welcomed the newly appointed Administrator for the Diocese of Bathurst, Fr Patrick O’Regan.

They also noted the passing of Bishop Peter Quinn, Emeritus Bishop of Bunbury, since their last meeting.

● The bishops discussed Victoria’s radical new abortion laws “at length”, with Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart and the other Victorian bishops discussing their experiences in vigorously opposing the legislation in a range of different forums.

These included ACBC president Archbishop Philip Wilson sending a memo to all Australian bishops asking the faithful of their respective dioceses to pray for the Victorian abortion bill before it passed.

Archbishop Hart said publicly during the debate before the Bill passed that it could mean the closure of maternity units in Catholic hospitals, as doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers would be forced to refer patients on to another physician who did not oppose abortion.

The Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life spoke about the successful ‘Walking with Love’ symposiums held around the nation this year and each bishop was given a copy of the ‘Walking with Love’ DVD, which was partly filmed in Fremantle.

The Walking with Love program delves into the issue of unexpected pregnancy and encourages the Catholic community and “all people of goodwill” to increase their support for vulnerable pregnant women, and to reach out to those women, their husbands, partners and families, who have been touched by an abortion experience.

Marist Brothers founder set to enter Australian calendar

■ By Anthony Barich

AUSTRALIA’S bishops will petition the Holy See to add a feast day of St Marcellin Champagnat to the Australian Church calendar on June 6.

While the Venerable Fr JeanClaude Colin founded the Marist Fathers (Society of Mary) in Lyons, France in 1816, congregation members consider St Champagnat as their co-founder, as he started the Marist Brothers.

Upon being ordained, St Marcellin was appointed to the mountain parish of La Valla, France, where he immediately started founding “the Little Brothers of Mary”. Here, poor boys in rural areas joined the Religious life and educated their peers as Marist Brothers.

St Marcellin, born the year the French Revolution started in 1789, was canonised by Pope John Paul II in April 1999.

The Bishops Commission for Liturgy executive secretary Fr Peter Williams told The Record that the bishops would ask the Holy See if the feast day of St Norbert, a 12th-Century monastic, could be shifted forward a day or two to allow for St Marcellin’s feast day to be observed on June 6, the day he died in 1840.

A similar request was successfully made when John Paul II beatified Mary MacKillop in 1995. Then, St Dominic’s feast day was shifted fromAugust 8 to allow for her. The Dominican Order of Preachers was happy with this arrangement as the foundress of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart would be Australia’s first saint.

The Australian province currently has 87 Fathers and Brothers operating in about 50 schools in Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, Victoria and a Marist Mission in Nara Prefecture, Japan, which is an integral part of the Australian Province.

For the Holy See to rubber stamp the request, it must be established that there is a ‘cult’ – a devotion and a following - of St Marcellin; and “the answer is yes, as a devotion is particularly fostered in Marist schools”, Fr Williams said. He believes that Rome authorities will accede to the request, but it could take up to two years. “There is some very enthusiastic support for St Marcellin, as the Marist Brothers have had a profound impact on Catholic education in establishing schools in Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

Positive follow-up: Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the Pope’s Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, is introduced to youth of the Sandhurst diocese by their Bishop Joseph Grech. PHOTO: YVETTE NEHME.

Spiritual champion: St Marcellin Chamagnet, the founder of the Marist Brothers, whose schools have taught countless Australian young men, is set to be included in the calendar of the Church in Australia as his charism has influenced thousands.

‘Back Rudd or we’ll fall behind on Net safety’

Bishop courts controversy by backing Government

■ By Anthony Barich

THE Australian bishops’ spokesman on media issues has warned that the country risks being left behind on internet safety if the community fails to back the Federal Government’s controversial plan for Internet Service Provider (ISP) filtering.

Bishop Peter Ingham of Wollongong, NSW said that fears of civil liberty infringements by ISP filtering are “absolutely spurious”, and said that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference holds that whatever could reasonably be done to filter out illegal sites at ISP level should be done.

As part of a $44.2m policy initiative, the Rudd Government has proposed legislative changes that would require all ISPs to provide a mandatory filter to block access to a specific blacklist of web sites created and maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

ISPs will be required to implement a two-tier system – a mandatory one blocking all content deemed illegal and another optional tier blocking content deemed inappropriate for children, like porn.

The Government also started a live trial of internet censorship technology on December 24 that would filter against 1300 illegal web pages, a blacklist managed by ACMA that mainly contains child pornography links.

Depictions of actual sexual

activity, child pornography, depictions of bestiality, excessive violence or sexual violence, detailed instruction about crime, violence or drug use and any material that advocates terrorist activity are all on the prohibited list.

“Families should also be able to access filters that can be customised to block more material if they choose to do so,” Senator Conroy said.

While both Bishop Ingham and Senator Conroy cited Britain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Canada as examples of countries with existing ISP filtering, the ISPs’ participation in at least three of these countries is optional, and is understood to be limited mainly to child porn.

“In many of these countries, the ISPs themselves have initiated the filtering in order to live up to the community’s expectations that illegal material or material that is harmful to children should not be available on the internet,” Bishop Ingham said.

Hundreds protested in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne on

December 13 against the proposed web censorship; some fearing it would slow down internet speed, stifle political opinion, that material that shouldn’t be blocked will be, and that such legislation would be tough to dismantle once in place.

Bishop Ingham defended the government’s proposal, saying it “simply aims to ensure that the material accessible on the internet is in line with the restrictions already in place in regard to DVDs or publications”.

“Pornography of any kind is harmful to human dignity and often degrading to women,” he said, citing research that shows internet pornography is also becoming increasingly harmful to marriages and relationships.

“In particular, every parent knows that much of the pornographic material that can be found on the internet ought not to be accessible to children.

“We call on the community to get behind the federal government on this important issue and support its attempts to keep pace with the rest of the world when it comes to cleaning up the Net in a fair and reasonable way.”

He said it was “disappointing” to read reports that Telstra, Australia’s largest Internet provider, has said it will not participate in trials of the federal government’s national internet filter.

Psychologists and children’s advocates have said that filtering of internet porn is needed to prevent sexualisation of children.

Christian Democratic Party WA state president Gerard Goiran told The Record that fears of over-filtering are not as important as the need to stop internet porn distribution.

One-off payment won’t fix poverty: St Vinnies

■ By Anthony Barich

THE St Vincent de Paul Society has warned that the Federal Government’s bonus payments to pensioners, seniors and carers will not stem the tide of poverty as it was intended to stimulate the economy.

The Rudd Government announced on October 14 that low and middle income families would receive a Christmas bonus of $1000 per child, single pensioners will get a $1400 payment and pensioner couples will be given $2100 under an emergency $10.4 billion rescue package to protect the economy.

The St Vincent de Paul Society’s WA spokeswoman Lucinda Ardagh said that the relief brought by the payments, which were supported by the Coalition Opposition and carried out just before Christmas 2008, would be short-lived.

“It would be easy to think these payments would make a significant difference to the people and families who receive them,” Ms Ardagh said.

“It would be a mistake to think this money will go any way to stem the tide of poverty and disadvantage.”

Ms Ardagh said that at best the payments would provide a moment’s breathing space for families under enormous and ongoing financial pressure, enabling them to catch up with rent or pay outstanding bills like schools fees and credit card debt.

Ms Ardagh said that the St Vincent de Paul Society’s services are inundated with West Australians seeking assistance, as each month it receives 2500 calls for assistance for food, clothing and assistance with utility bills plus friendship and support.

“It would be wonderful to think that we would see a drop in this need as a result of the bonus payments, but we won’t. The numbers of people coming to us for help continues to grow,” she said.

Catholic Social Services Australia director Frank Quinlan said the payment was indicative of successive Australian governments who have avoided making judgments about what an acceptable living standard for Australians on benefits might be.

“The current system is full of anomalies born of random payments and bonuses that arise out of political whim and historic accidents rather than good social policy,” Mr Quinlan said.

Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, told The Record that the Government “understands the impact the global financial crisis is having on those who are already under pressure”.

She said that around four million pensioners, carers, people with disability and veterans and around two million families are receiving lump sum payments, as part of the Rudd Government’s $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy.

”This will go some way to easing

Reconciliation must remain on agenda: NATSICC

■ By Anthony Barich

THE chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council has told Australia’s bishops that the Church needs to ensure that reconciliation remains on the agenda following the Federal Government’s national apology to the ‘Stolen Generation’.

The apology, given on February 13, said: “For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture we say sorry.”

tion was required in areas of child protection, health and education, but consultation was the main thing that didn’t happen and it still isn’t happening,” she said.

“It’s gone flat. Where to now? We need to come together more and we need to listen to each other.

Most importantly, we need to keep reconciliation on the agenda.”

Mrs Heiss said the apology was important to her personally as her mother was part of the ‘Stolen Generation’, having been taken from her own mother aged five.

“That day down there in Canberra, I felt pain and joy,” Mrs Heiss told the bishops of the day Prime Minister Kevin Rudd read the apology, adding that the moment was given added poignancy as she visited her mother and aunty’s graves.

the financial pressure on Australian households,” she said.

“We value the enormous contribution made by the community sector.

“In these difficult times strong partnerships between the not-forprofit sector and the government are essential.” She conceded that the challenges that the Federal Government faces are “complex, requiring co-ordinated, collaborative responses driven by a new partnership between government and the social service sector”.

CSSA also repeated its call for an independent Entitlements Commission to set and review pensions and other income support payments on an annual basis, considering a range of criteria including the goods and services necessary to live in reasonable comfort, maintain dignity and take part in the life of the community; the contribution of in-kind government support provided through measures such as the Seniors Card, Medicare, public housing and subsidised rent and transport.

Such an Entitlements Commission would also take into account differences in the cost of living between income support recipients who own their own homes or have access to public housing and those who rely on the private rental market; differences in the cost of living for income support recipients in different geographical areas; and differences in the cost of living for income support recipients living in different family/household types.

NATSICC chair Elsie Heiss and its ACT representative Kerrie Hogan were invited to address the Australian bishops’ Plenary Meeting - held at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney from November 24-28 – to mark the significance of the apology and to give an overview of the activities occurring in Aboriginal Ministry.

Mrs Heiss said that in-depth consultation with indigenous communities needed to occur on the question of the future direction of the previous Federal Government’s Intervention in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia.

“Everyone agrees that interven-

Ms Hogan outlined NATSICC activities and the work of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry around Australia, which included sacramental programs, youth programs, community faith gatherings and hospital chaplaincy.

Following on from the theme of World Youth Day, the NATSICC triennial conference will be held in Brisbane from September 21-22 next year with the theme, “The Holy Spirit in this Land”, and will feature a special youth assembly.

“We want young people to come along as leaders,” Mrs Heiss said. “Youth are so important to our community, whether black or white.”

Economic crisis to create another 140,000 unemployed

CATHOLIC Social Services Australia estimates another 140,000 will be unemployed as a result of the global financial crisis, and has called on the Federal Government to raise pension unemployment benefits to help people deal with it.

CSSA executive director Frank Quinlan said that current pension unemployment payments are based on short-term relief, but this does not help those who are affected long-term and whose plight will worsen as a result of the financial crisis. “Those already struggling to find work during the boom times will be pushed further down the queue as job-ready people become unemployed, so there will be an enormous need for an increase to programs and payments for the long-term unemployed,” Mr Quinlan said.

CSSA met on November 26 with Federal Government ministers in Canberra in an urgent bid to limit the impact of the crisis, where Mr Quinlan called on the government to provide $900 million over the next three years to help deal with it. The meeting also included Anglicare Australia, the Salvation Army and UnitingCare, as they discussed the crisis with Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.

Bishop Peter Ingham

Making news: Kevin Rudd’s apology to the ‘stolen generations’ made international headlines, and was welcomed by the National Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islander Catholic Council. But it says reconciliation must remain on the agenda.

Defending marriage, Benedict finds

Is it Regensberg all over again? The world’s media, yet again, appear to have completely misread (wilfully or otherwise...) a line in a speech by Pope Benedict to the Roman curia on December 22. The resultant furore is becoming almost predictable. The Pope’s problem appears to be more that journalists are simply... well, ignorant when it comes to religious belief.

The Homo-EcologicalPapal-Pseudo-Event

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

- Winston Churchill

■ By John Heard

People everywhere, but especially same sex attracted Catholics, were shocked to read the sensational news reports that Pope Benedict XVI had linked homosexuals with the destruction of the rainforests.

Most of the world’s media picked up the story, and some reports even included specious direct quotation marks. Homosexuals (and some reports had transsexuals) are a threat; the Pope was reported to have said, on par with the forces that had prompted the movement towards environmentalism and ecology.

Even the more cautious arti-

cles claimed (or, more rarely, just implied), that the Holy Father had likened homosexuals’ unchosen, unwilled sexual inclinations to the immoral actions of those who would deliberately degrade the planet.

Forget Christmas, the Pope had decided to “spew hate” - that was the view of homoactivist after homoactivist - and the Church had been caught out encouraging bigots and “gay-bashings”.

The headline I woke up to was, indeed, deeply distressing: “Outrageous: Pope Bashes Gays”.

In the aftermath, writers in many English-speaking countries encouraged same sex attracted Catholics to leave the Church. Others called for the Pope and any priests who dared to repeat his language to be charged with “hatespeech”.

Happily, not one of the sensational reports was true.

Rather, what has become clear since the initial reports is that someone at Reuters and / or the BBC wire service mistranslated the Pope’s customary annual

Italian address to the Roman Curia (December 22, 2008). Various eminent news outlets then added, or else reprinted an unrelated, nonCatholic gloss that ensured a sensational reception for the Pope’s otherwise inoffensive comments about World Youth Day 2008, pneumatology, “gender”, Humanae Vitae, and “rock star” leaders.

Homoactivists, garden variety anti-Catholics, incensed ordinary readers, and otherwise good people of all sorts took it from there. The resulting free-for-all was remarkable; both for the venomous denunciations of Pope Benedict XVI and the Church, and the time it took for someone serious to check the facts.

Certainly, when they did, it became clear that the Pope had said nothing of the sort about “homosexuals”, “transsexuals” and “rainforests”. Indeed, he mentioned neither “homosexuals”, nor “transsexuals”. He certainly did not mention “homosexuality”.

Beyond solemn questions about journalistic ethics, accountability,

Continued on Page 9

Just a few examples... and fairly representative, at that. These illustrations from media web pages (Reuters, The Sydney Morning Herald, The West Australian, ABC News) show just how badly the media can get it wrong when it comes to reporting religion. Likely explanation: undergarduates who become journalists are raised on television, little reading and a bewildering variety of passingly fashionable theoretical ‘paradigms’ in humanities faculties that have little actual relationship to reality.

Church faces uphill battle delivering messages

Blind spots and biases in secular media coverage

■ By Father John Flynn LC

Accuracy and objectivity are traits often lacking in the media's coverage of churches and religion in general. A case in point is the recent Newsweek article on same-sex marriage.

The magazine published a cover story by Lisa Miller in the December 15 issue arguing that we can't take the Bible as a reliable source on what marriage should be like. Miller also affirmed that neither the Bible nor Jesus explicitly defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Miller's article was widely criticised for its selective quoting of

Bible passages and for simply ignoring much of what Scripture does say about marriage. Newsweek itself acknowledged that her opinions drew thousands of critical e-mails.

The ignorance displayed in the Newsweek article is, however, far from an isolated case. On December 15 the reader's editor of the UK's Guardian newspaper had to admit that they had confused Mary's Immaculate Conception with the virgin birth of Jesus in a story published, no less, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The editor also had to admit that, as one priest who wrote to them pointed out, this is a frequent mistake. In fact, seven times in the last 10 years the Guardian has had to publish corrections on this topic.

Another glaring mistake was made on July 7, this time by

FoxNews, when it was reported that Webster Cook, a student at the University of Central Florida, smuggled a consecrated host out of a Mass. The reporter miss-stated that the host is believed by Catholics "to symbolise the body of Christ".

Commentators quickly pointed out that the Catholic Church does not believe the Eucharist to be a mere symbol, but to be the true Body of Christ. FoxNews did correct the story, but even so the current version, while acknowledging that Catholics believe it to Christ's body, says that this comes about when the host is "blessed," instead of the correct term, "consecrated."

Getting it

Trying to understand why the media so often get it wrong on religion is the aim of a collection of essays just published:

Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion, (Oxford

University Press).

Edited by Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Roberta Green Ahmanson, the book's foreword starts by noting that many journalists are simply illiterate when it comes to knowing what the Bible contains. Unfortunately, the foreword commented, a journalist with secular blinkers will simply miss out on many of the most important events and trends of our time.

In his contribution, Allen Hertzke, professor of political science at Oklahoma University, accused the mainstream press of missing out on one of the great developments in foreign policy in recent times.

Hertzke explained that a new human rights movement arose in the mid '90s to defend religious freedom and human rights.

Important legislation was passed by the US Congress, including the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

He made an in-depth study of the media coverage during the years that the major legislative bills were passed and concluded that the role of the faith-based alliance of groups that were a major force in the process was often misunderstood.

The professor noted, for example, that the New York Times often seemed to struggle to make sense of the legislative processes, often simply characterising the push as a cause of the "Christian Right," thus ignoring the role played by the diversity of groups ranging from Jews to Tibetan Buddhists.

Likewise, Hertzke added, the campaign against trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is another area where

Love: Children in traditional dress bring offerings to Pope Benedict XVI as he celebrates midnight Mass in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on December 25. The moment illustrates, in some ways, the heart of the debate generated by the Pope’s comments. Benedict sees the need for a human ecology, but the media find such language incomprehensible.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS

“Because faith in the Creator is an essential part of the Christian creed, the Church cannot and must not limit itself to transmitting to its faithful the message of salvation alone. It has a responsibility toward creation, and must exercise this responsibility in public as well. And in doing so, it must defend not only the earth, water, and air as gifts of creation belonging to all.

“It must also protect man against his own destruction. Something like an ecology of man is needed, understood in the proper sense. It is not an outdated metaphysics if the Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and asks that this order of creation be respected. In fact, this is a matter of faith in the Creator and of listening to the language of creation, disdain toward which would be the self-destruction of man, and therefore the destruction of the very work of God.

“What is often expressed and understood by the term “gender” is ultimately resolved in the self-emancipation of man from creation and from the Creator. Man wants to create himself, and to arrange always and exclusively that which concerns him. But this means living contrary to the truth, living contrary to the creator Spirit. Yes, the rainforests deserve our protection, but man deserves it no less, as a creature in whom a message is inscribed that does not mean the contradiction of our freedom, but its precondition.

“Great scholastic theologians have described marriage, meaning the lifelong bond between man and woman, as a sacrament of creation, which the Creator himself instituted and which Christ – without modifying the message of creation – incorporated into the history of his covenant with men. It is part of the proclamation that the Church must make on behalf of the creator Spirit present in nature as a whole, and in a special way in the nature of man, created in the image of God.

“It is beginning from this perspective that one should reread the encyclical Humanae Vitae: the intention of Pope Paul VI was to defend love against sexuality as consumption, the future against the exclusive presumption of the present, and the nature of man against its manipulation.”

The words that got up global media noses the toughest job is being heard at all neither fashionable nor popular with media

religious groups played a pioneering role, only too often overlooked by the media.

Papal focus

Catholic journalist and author Amy Welborn dedicated a chapter in the book to the media's coverage of the papacy. She reflected on the coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II, the election of Benedict XVI, and the first couple years of the latter's pontificate.

Frequently, Welborn commented, the secular media's coverage has been marred by two flaws: first, a lack of knowledge on the subject; second, a reliance on a template for reporting that frames events in the language of contemporary political categories.

One profile of John Paul II published after his death by the Boston Globe described his rule as "authoritarian," and "discipli-

narian." Many of the journalists, Welborn observed, portrayed John Paul II as "conservative," and ignored, for example, the pioneering contributions he made in areas such as the theology of the body.

When it came to the election of Benedict XVI, Welborn noted that only too often the media characterised the new Pope as being a hardliner and a disciplinarian. Only as time went by did the secular media get around to presenting a fuller picture.

Welborn did acknowledge that reporting on the Catholic Church is quite a challenge, given the historical depth and complexity of the subject matter. Deepening their knowledge of the Church would be a step forward for journalists covering Catholicism, she argued. This does not mean losing objectivity, but reporting on events in their proper context.

Resisting the temptation to portray every Vatican-related story as a battle between "conservatives" and "liberals" would also be a step forward, Welborn noted.

Ignorance

Terry Mattingly, a reporter and director of the Washington Journalism Centre at the Council for Christian Colleges, wrote on the topic of getting religion into the newsrooms. He also commented on the amazing ignorance by some of the reporters who cover religion. Mattingly observed that he could not imagine that basic mistakes such as those committed in stories on religious matters would be permitted in other areas, such as politics.

Among the examples given by Mattingly were stories that could not even correctly describe the

Continued from Page 8 and the transparent transmission of important leaders’ public remarks, there is always a deeper worry whenever these sorts of pseudoevents grip the mass media.

Like those who felt duped by the reports of weapons of mass destruction inside Iraq, and the people who thought their homes and livelihoods were in the hands of responsible banks and investment experts, major breakdowns in the systems of secular modernity reveal a shadow-land between fact (e.g., news, intelligence, professional advice) and non-fact (e.g., bias, propaganda, advertising, sales).

The anxiety is that, alongside the sad men in Plato’s famous cave analogy, modern man will come to prefer flickering shadows on a cave wall to the reality that thrives in the nourishing sun just outside his comfort zone.

Indeed, American historian Daniel Boorstin coined the term “pseudo-event” to describe “a staged happening that becomes news not for intrinsic reasons but because those who cover the news deem it so”.

Boorstin’s term certainly fits this latest controversy.

For, while the Pope’s public statements are intrinsically newsworthy, this situation shows how the lines between reality and a pseudoevent can be blurred. Surprisingly quickly, the manufactured, bogus event - overlayed onto the real thing – took control. Repeated over and over, passed down channels of authority, traded on the prestige and power of the various news networks, newspapers, and other outlets that transmitted the story, the pseudo-event helped “create an alternate sham reality… where credibility superseded truth, invention eclipsed discovery…”

The effects of this phenomenon were most pronounced in those pundits and other commentators who, having been apprised of what the Pope actually said, displayed a surreal response. Who cares, distorted attitudes encouraged them to say; we know what he really meant!

While many ordinary Catholics are, now, outraged that such a thing could even occur, and not a few formerly solid journalists and politicians have to explain why they did not check the wording of the Pope’s address, it is this preference for anything other than the truth that is most troubling.

When it involves the Holy Father, and the authentic Catholic

Continued on Page 12

names of churches or denominations, blanket labeling of diverse Christian groups as "fundamentalists," and completely misunderstanding religious terminology.

This isn't a religious problem, Mattingly argued, but a journalistic one due to newsrooms often being tone-deaf when it comes to religion - hearing the words but not understanding the music.

Mattingly quoted a posting by the editors of the Washington Post back in 1994, when they were advertising for a religion reporter. The "ideal candidate," it said, is "not necessarily religious nor an expert in religion."

Of course, he acknowledged, a reporter covering religion should not be chosen on the basis of religious beliefs, but to be a good professional reporter you do need to know the subject matter you are covering.

He recommended a number of things that can be done to improve coverage of religion. Mattingly's suggestions ranged from editors ensuring that reporters who cover religion receive better training to a need for more diversity in terms of background and beliefs of those who work in newsrooms.

"The media must avoid becoming spokesmen for economic materialism and ethical relativism, true scourges of our time," wrote Benedict XVI in his message for the World Communications Day celebrated on May 4.

"Instead, they can and must contribute to making known the truth about humanity, and defending it against those who tend to deny or destroy it," the Pope urged. An essential part of communicating that truth is to get the basic facts right about religion and the Church.  ZENIT.ORG

Showing a light: Pope Benedict XVI lights a candle from the window of his private apartment at the Vatican on Christmas Eve.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS

Anna Krohn: Pope Benedict’s ecology of the Holy Spirit - Page 12 Children of gay parents speak - but who’s listening? - Page 13

6

2

5

NOVEMBER

14 St Vinnies: Teen Buddy Day

DECEMBER

3 University of Notre Dame: Twilight Retreat

5 St Vinnies: Kids Buddy Day

9 RLO: Embrace the Grace Conference [9th – 13th]

This calendar is a guide only and contains only a sample of the youth activities in the Archdiocese of Perth. For a comprehensive calendar, up to date confirmation and details of events closer to the date, check www.cym.com.au or call (08) 9422 7912. Also contact your local parish for details on the youth

1

4

OCTOBER

of Notre Dame: Campus Ministry Retreat

Deserving to be fed comes before Pulsing with irresistible energy

Awho are caught up in prostitution and homelessness, is: “Aren’t they the cause of their own problems?” Others can be more blunt, “Don’t waste your time,” they tell me: “…they made their own bed, let them lie in it...”

These may, at first, appear to be callous responses to the plight of struggling individuals, but I can understand what motivates their frustration.

When one stands at a distance and witnesses the self-destructive behaviour that can often characterise those who exist on the fringe of society, some of the decisions they make can indeed appear both perplexing and annoying.

The fact is, that many of their choices are.

I say I say

To watch helplessly as someone addicted to drugs or solvents destroys months of abstinence with one bad decision can be soul destroying for those who have walked beside them during the difficult road of rehabilitation.

By Mark Reidy

To witness an alcoholic or gambler blow their entire income in one night is like watching a horrific car accident unfold before your eyes. You know that the ramifications will be devastating and will destructively ripple throughout every part of their existence, just as they know. But they do it anyway.

So it is easy to identify with those who, either subtly or blatantly, suggest that such people should be left to languish in their own mess. Words such as “tough love”, “they have to hit rock bottom” and “you’re not helping by holding their hand” are not uncommon and I agree that there is a rightful place for them.

But when these sentiments do not emanate from a heart of love, then they only add to the annihilation. If they are not driven by a desire to see the other person healed, then they, most likely, are driven by the sense of helplessness that comes with watching another human self-destruct.

That is not to say that we are to condone their actions in any way, for people must always be accountable for their own decisions, but by attempting to live out the example of unconditional love that Jesus taught, we might be able to keep alive or resurrect a sense within them that they are worthy of love. This is the first step towards wholeness.

However in order to begin this process it is essential that we familiarise ourselves with the emotional reality of the wounded person.

Not only does this allow us to better understand them, but it is also the most effective way I know of deflecting our inclination to judge. By entering into the life of another, we expose ourselves to their pain and this in turn can give us a new awareness of what motivates their choices and behaviour.

When we can make a personal connection between the physically abused boy who has become the violent aggressor, the sexually abused girl who sleeps with anyone who shows her attention or the emotionally abandoned child who seeks solace in a drug induced haze, then we are less likely to give up on them as they continually make the wrong choices.

One of my favourite sayings is: “Give a man a fish and he has food for the day; teach him how to fish and he has food for a lifetime”, but often with the broken lives that I encounter, there is a wide chasm between their sense of self worth and this goal of self-reliance. While teaching them to fish should always be our aim, it is only a useful skill to have if the person firstly believes that they deserve to be fed. reidyrec@iinet.net.au

Being Heard

By John Heard

‘Christmas lights’

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it – John (1:5)

In the lead-up to Christmas, we revel in a time, a bright season of calm beauty. Then, at Christmas, the Church bursts into full celebration. It is like the joy we had before, so warm and sure, is suddenly and massively increased. At Christmastime we light extra candles. Pillars and portals are festooned with wreathes. Christmas trees adorn our sanctuaries, and new vestments model the colours and symbols of Christmas hope.

Come Christmas night, then, there is the hum of a packed house. There is the familiar expectant darkness, then the shock of a thousand new lights. From midnight, the Church pulses with an irresistible energy, and Catholics observe the ancient rites that welcome the Incarnation of the Christ.

This surge lasts.

Christmas celebrations certainly suffuse the time that follows through Christmastide, and Catholics mark a full eight days of festival - the Octave of Christmas.

This energy, and those lights, the Advent/Christmastide seasons we live and pray, these are all part of a great gift. During this time we hear again that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

However, this news, and the miraculous facts of Christ’s birth can come harshly into the lives of some people. Same sex attracted men, in particular, those of us who feel tainted, or irredeemable, or manifestly broken – can find it hard to understand a God Who

would choose to come into the world as a vulnerable creature.

These people are not alone. The Jews regularly regard the Christmas story, and the idea that God was born of a woman, as a blasphemy.

In recalling the great facts of God’s entry into human history, then, and by observing the strange rites of Christmas joy, Christians are confronted with a hard truth. We share in some of the mystery of God’s great nature, but to make any sense of it all we must learn, again, that He is Love. He really is Love.

For nothing else can make sense of the Christmas story.

Those of us who know someone who is same sex attracted, then, or someone who struggles with his faith (or perhaps we are close to someone who is not Christian) - for many people on the edges of the Church, Christmas can be a mighty time indeed.

For, it is not so hard - at Christmas - to do and say many things that might otherwise come awkwardly.

Certainly, this time is given to us out of love. It is given to us, especially those of us who move among non-Christians, to model love for others. We are to carry the Christ-child into the public square, to prepare all hearts for Christmas, and build a community of peace.

In some ways at least, the non-Christian world is more willing to hear the Christmas message, or certain parts of it, at Christmastime than at almost any other time of the year. The Christmas teachings that give Catholics such joy, these flood out of the churches.

Running alongside the central liturgical events, the Masses and the rituals,

there are rich cultural and family traditions.

These are not separate from the proper celebration of Christmas joy.

They are animated and sanctified by the same.

And in these folk celebrations, as in the great rites of Church, non-Christians see the best of our faith.

By organising our lives, our homes, our businesses, our cultures, and our nations around the fact of Christ’s birth, we show that we are serious about the truth, and we demonstrate that God is at the centre of history.

The answer for those same sex attracted men who cannot believe the Christmas truth, and the answer for the Jews who doubt that God would come down to Bethlehem, and the answer for all those others who cannot – on their first encounter with, or even after many repetitions of the nativity story – fathom the love that makes Christmas work is not, after all, a formula or a proof.

It is an encounter with a person: the God Who is Love.

The glory, and the wonder, all the spirit, energy, and light of Christmas therefore find their source and summit – as the whole Church must – in the person of Jesus Christ.

Individual Christians, holding themselves up to His great light, become a light for others.

At Christmastime we are promised then – that in this way - Christmas love will illuminate our families, and bring peace to the world.

A blessed Christmas to all readers, and a safe and happy New Year!

John Heard is a Melbourne writer.

The pivotal Glorious Revolution

Anniversary of the Glorious Revolution

We have just passed the 320th Anniversary of the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. This has been thought – far more than Magna Carta, which did not, after all, prevent the rise of tyrants like Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell – to have set the seal on British liberty.

The British Bill of Rights was passed the following year.

The Glorious Revolution began when certain English leaders decided King James II was behaving unconstitutionally.

The new rulers, the Dutch Prince William and his Queen, Mary (who preserved some continuity by being James’ daughter) began by calling together a Convention Parliament.

This established the world’s first Constitutional Monarchy.

Although one charge against James was along the lines that he was preparing a restoration of Catholicism, in the tangled politico-religious international politics of the day this seems to have meant relatively little: the Pope was actually supporting William, and the subsequent victory of William’s forces (part-Catholic anyway) over those of James (part-Protestant) at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690 was celebrated in the Vatican.

In clear view

By Guy Crouchback

William’s elite Blue Guards fought under the Papal Banner. Limitation of powers by separation, not religion, was the overarching issue.

Constitutional expert Professor David Flint, writing in the magazine Quadrant has called the Glorious Revolution “arguably the most significant single provision in the advance of good government that the world has ever seen.”

Flint argues compellingly that while the French Revolution led to the Reign of Terror, the Napoleonic Wars and the Bolshevik Revolution, products of “near-crazed men designing schemes to save the world that came close to ruining it,” the Glorious Revolution, making ancient rights and liberties an essential part of English-speaking culture, led to the completely different spirit of the American Revolution with its emphasis in individual rights, representative democracy and the limitation of government powers.

It is because of that spirit that Jacobinism, Communism and Fascism never attracted significant support in any English-speaking country. It was in the spirit of the Glorious Revolution that William Blackstone published the

Fundamental Laws of England in 1760, which spoke of the “absolute rights of Englishmen” and which were taken up by the American Founding Fathers a few years later.

It also led to the peaceful maturing into independence as Parliamentary democracies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

“It established,” Flint says, “those fundamental principles of good government which best allow man to achieve and exercise his fundamental rights … This was recognised eloquently by the founding Fathers of the United States.”

Indeed, Flint points out further, according to the United Nations index of Human Development, measured by the life-expectancy, wealth and education of their populations, the form of government of all the leading nations but Switzerland derives from the principles established by the Glorious Revolution.

The English-speaking countries, by no co-incidence, account for more than a third of global GDP with only 7.5% of the world’s population.

It is also worth remembering that, at the time of the American Declaration of Independence, there was another, potentially seductive model of modern and progressive government: the Absolutism of the France of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

But America had a better example and escaped going that way. The Declaration of Independence was closely modelled on the Declaration of Rights.

cathrec@iinet.net.au

East to west, Notre Dame makes history

THE University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus, graduated over 816 students over December 13-14.

Four ceremonies were held over the two days with staff, family and friends and University supporters gathering to share in the graduands celebrations.

This year the university celebrated a significant milestone in its development when its first cohort of medical students graduated.

Seventy-four students successfully completed the graduate entry four year degree which has a key focus to graduate students who will practise in areas of unmet need.

Notre Dame’s School of Medicine is Western Australia’s second medical school.

A UNDA statement said that during their four years of study, its students not only undertook clinical experiences in WA’s metropolitan public and private hospitals but also completed extensive practical placements in regional hospitals and health centres as remote as WA’s Kimberley region and in WA’s southern town of Albany.

“This gave them first-hand experience living and working in rural communities,” the statement said.

Eight first-year UNDA Fremantle medicine students had a five-day voyage on the STS Leeuwin II in November as part of the social justice component of their studies, assisting 28 youth with physical or intellectual limitations. This student’s abridged report shows they were shaken and stirred by the experience.

“Along with seven other medical students, a number of practising physiotherapists and occupational therapists, volunteers and permanent crew from the STS Leeuwin II and the trainees with special limitations, I took part in this five day voyage off Fremantle just a week after the completion of our first year exams.

“The opportunity to live and crew alongside these kids with limitations opened my eyes to both the burdens and joys that their families and carers live with every day.

“Their capacity for excitement, frustration, happiness, trepidation and achievement was more apparent than for others amongst the

crew who were more reserved and perhaps selfconscious. I challenged myself to ensure I was equal to the tasks that lay before us – in seeking to accept and master all tasks sent my way.

“I had done a small amount of sailing before and plenty of climbing, roping and work at heights so these tasks were not such a challenge – but still a joy to take part in.

“For me the challenge was learning to relate to and work alongside all of my team-mates equally and to become comfortable with the patience required to help these extraordinary young people achieve for themselves what many able-bodied persons would not dream of attempting.

Resilience is cultivated by facing challenges, and a week on board the Leeuwin II is rife with them. From my cabin-mates’ smelly socks to the indignity of sea sickness, 5.30am wake-up calls to midnight watches the scene on board the Leeuwin is one of exhaustion coupled with disillusionment.

“On board the Leeuwin your community is the other 50 or so people struggling to steer an unfamiliar boat through unfamiliar waters, with about as much personal space as can be found in a small kitchen cupboard.

Salt water sprays over your face and clothes much more often than two-minute freshwater

showers can, and if you managed to cram shampoo and conditioner into your luggage you are very lucky to have the time to apply it.

“Within an hour of waking you might be washing everyone’s dishes by hand or sweating the lines after turning the ship around.

“Lifting a 500kg mainsail after only six hours of broken sleep is not easy, nor is climbing the rigging so that you can lean out and tie up a sail while standing on a 1.5 cm thick rope.

“Time aboard the Leeuwin II takes away illusions of comfort and easy living, which sounds unappealing until you realise that in the middle of discomfort every crew member is forced to accept their own strength – their ability to rise up and meet challenges head on.

“Modern Australian culture is one of luxury –freely running showers and ten kinds of shower gel, hairdryers, washing machines, televisions, ipods, laptops… all working to provide us with distraction and to hide us from our physicality.

“Sweat, wind, sun and extreme physical effort are inconveniences relegated to the odd 45 minute session in a gym, hidden from the eyes of anyone not doing the same – or performed by trades people in uniforms who are being paid for their trouble.”

Sydney’s UNDA campus marks its own big day

History is made over east as UNDA takes a giant step forward.

THE University of Notre Dame Australia’s Sydney Campus celebrated its inaugural graduation on December 17.

One hundred and twenty students from the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Nursing, and Philosophy and Theology graduated in front of over 500 family, staff and friends.

Nursing student Ruth Mychael was named the first Valedictorian for the Sydney Campus.

Executive Director of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Catholic Education Office, Brother Kelvin Canavan, also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the university.

Notre Dame’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Celia Hammond, said that as partakers in history, there is much reason to celebrate. “Graduation ceremonies are wonderful occasions in which students’ achievements are acknowledged and the academic culture of Notre Dame celebrated,” Prof Hammond said. “There is a sense of justified pride and satisfaction for all concerned, the graduates themselves, their families and friends and the Notre Dame staff. This year we have the extra joy of our first graduation on the Sydney Campus: an historic milestone for the University, and the culmination of years of planning and hard work. I congratulate the graduates on their fine achievement.”

The Sydney Campus opened in February 2006 with the foundation Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Law, Nursing, and Philosophy and Theology. Since then the University has grown significantly, opening an additional site in Darlinghurst which accommodates the Schools of Medicine and Nursing.

Momentous occasion: University of Notre Dame’s Fremantle students bask in the moment at their graduation ceremony. It was the first of its kind for the medical students, who completed the graduate entry four-year degree.

PHOTO: UNDA

Coastal adventure: Maxine Garnsey, second from left in the back row, aborad the STS Leeuwin II on the five-day adventure voyage.

PHOTO: UNDA

Leeuwin adventure brings out courage and fire of students

Pope calls for peace, help for the world’s children

■ By John Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Christmas with a call to peace and a plea on behalf of the world’s children.

In the face of violent conflicts, child exploitation and economic woes, the pope said, the birth of Jesus brings a light that “breaks through the gloom” and urges a mentality of solidarity with others.

In his Christmas message, the pope said a more generous and sharing attitude was essential to overcoming global problems, including terrorism, human rights violations and apprehension about “an increasingly uncertain future ... even in affluent nations.”

“If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart,” he said.

The pope spoke from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, delivering a blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city of Rome and the world) and pronouncing Christmas greetings in 64 languages.

In English, he said: “May the birth of the Prince of Peace remind the world where its

true happiness lies; and may your hearts be filled with hope and joy, for the Saviour has been born for us.”

The 81-year-old pontiff looked fit and sounded good as he made his way rapidly through the multilingual salutations, which included Chinese, Arabic and Swahili. He had been up late, celebrating a midnight Mass in St Peter’s Basilica that ended at 2 am.

In his Christmas message, the pope said it was important to remember that Jesus came with saving grace not for a few but “for all: Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, those near and those far away, believers and nonbelievers.”

This grace is sorely needed today, he said, in places like the Holy Land, where “the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians”; in Lebanon, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East; and in many other places where “the twisted logic of conflict” reigns.

The grace of Christ is sought by the people of Zimbabwe, “trapped for all too long in a political and social crisis which, sadly, keeps

Many different people, one faith

A Palestinian woman, top left, touches a column in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, on December 23. The church is built over the grotto traditionally believed to be where Mary gave birth to Jesus.

People attend a midnight Mass, above, in St Catherine’s Church adjacent to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, on December 25.

Pope Benedict XVI blesses pilgrims from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on December 25 during his Christmas blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city of Rome and the world).

Worshippers pray during Mass at a Catholic church in Tianjin, China, on December 25.

worsening,” he said, referring to the African country’s recent cholera outbreak and continuing political and economic unrest.

The pope highlighted what he called the “interminable sufferings” of people in the war-torn region of Darfur in Sudan and in Somalia, as well as the escalation of fighting in Congo. In a special way, children in these places need the light of Christ and the return of hope for their future, he said.

During midnight Mass the pope, dressed in white and gold vestments, accepted the offertory gifts from young children of different countries, blessing each of them as they made their way to the altar.

In his sermon, he said the arrival of the saviour as a child should remind people everywhere of the suffering of children, including those denied the love of their parents and those who have been abused.

“Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace,” he said.

“Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul,” he said. He said the infant Jesus “summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children.”

The world will change for the better only when people accept Jesus and experience a change of heart, he said.

After the liturgy, the pope walked in procession down the main aisle of the basilica, smiling and blessing the faithful. At one point, the Vatican’s chief security agent tackled a woman who had moved past the wooden barriers and appeared to be rushing toward the pope. The Vatican later said there was no danger to the pontiff.

On Christmas Eve, the pope lit a candle at his apartment window after the Vatican’s larger-than-life Nativity scene was unveiled in St Peter’s Square below.

This year’s Nativity scene featured representations of domestic settings from the period, alongside Jesus’ manger in Bethlehem.

PHOTO: CNS/NAYEF HASHLAMOUN, REUTERS

PHOTO: CNS/YIN BOGU, POOL VIA REUTERS

PHOTO: CNS/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA REUTERS

PHOTO:CNS/VINCENT DU, REUTERS.

A policeman stands guard outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church as residents attend Mass in Baghdad, Iraq, on Christmas day.

PHOTO: CNS/THAIER ALSUDANI, REUTERS

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Benedict’s ecology of the Holy Spirit

■ By Anna Krohn

Most of us were munching mince pies or fighting with rolls of wrapping paper when a garbled news headline shot briefly but angrily across the media heavens: “Pope says homosexuality more dangerous that water pollution!”

Depending on our point of view and our level of Christmas preoccupation, we either dismissed this as a now common case of distorted reporting and thinly disguised Pope-bashing or racked it up as more proof of the mean intolerance of the Catholic Church.

What this particular headline demonstrates however is how hopelessly little the reporters and their reactive audiences actually noticed or perhaps wanted to read of Pope Benedict’s Address to the Roman Curia (December 22nd) at the Vatican.

The address bears no resemblance at all to a reactionary attack upon any one group of people, nor is it a mere moral condemnation of one type of sexual activity.

The Pope’s address is a carefully crafted reflection upon the theology of Creation shot through with a rich and provocative theology of the Holy Spirit.

The Address covers many important topics which deserve extended reading not only by Bishops but by everyone. These include the real nature of World Youth Day, the role of the Holy Spirit in human history and the “inseparability of Christ and the Holy Spirit.”

Of course the secular media fixed upon the Pope’s comments about sexuality.

Indeed in his Address, Pope Benedict does not run away from addressing that most difficult aspect of contemporary evangelisation about the nature and vocation of the human person, and in particular about the importance of sexuality both as lived reality and as a basis of morality and spirituality. In doing this he builds on Pope John Paul II’s mammoth contribution in the Theology of the Body, and Benedict contributes his own distinctive concern that we return to an appreciation of the immediate presence of God in his World.

In doing this he casts his address far more widely than a room full of Curial officials. He knows that there are many international agencies and government ideologues who aim to drive a wedge between the love of the environment and the love of God.

Essential to these two loves, in Pope Benedict’s thinking, is the appreciation of the environment and our relationship with God and faith through a renewed understanding of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the divine loving communion we call the Blessed Trinity.

For many people today, God is only a figure as that pop song croons it, “watching us from a distance”. Jesus is seen as a “good bloke” but one who belongs to the remoteness of the past or to the innocent days of Sunday school stories.

Even most Catholics are vague about the Holy Spirit, imagining him in some cloudy way to be the late arrival at God’s party. As a result they are also unsure how it is that nature and creation (and with it the sciences) on one hand and revelation, theology and the Church’s teaching can be bridged. They do not know how to respond to the endlessly and often mindlessly, chanted secular refrain - that “The Church should keep its nose

out of” the bedroom, the boardroom and the laboratory.

Pope Benedict has on many occasions both as Pope and as theologian refuted this dismissal of Christianity as private hymn singing and mutterings between consenting adults.

He restates this once again in his Christmas address. The “creator Spirit” is not simply a pious idea or some excuse for by my own “private revelation” but both the reason any of us can have faith and the reason that we can pursue science in the first place. God’s Holy Spirit is at work not only at the “beginning” of creation, but in forming and renewing the cosmos here and now. The creator Spirit, says Benedict, gives us the privileged gift of intelligence and creativity by which human beings can “interpret and remodel” that world we are blessed with. However this amazing power quickly becomes destructive and dangerous if we do not also heed the Holy Spirit urging us to see our place in creation as one of high “duty and responsibility”.

He says that it is precisely because we believe that God is alive and present in His creation and in our faith that “the Church cannot and must not limit itself to transmitting to its faithful the message of salvation alone … It has

a responsibility toward creation… it must defend not only the earth, water and air as gifts of creation… it must also protect man against his own destruction.”

“It is in this context of the grandeur and beauty of creation and of a true and complete ecology that Pope Benedict emphasises the importance of the teaching and insights of Pope Paul VI in the controversial and little understood Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae.”

It is in this context of the grandeur and beauty of creation and of a true and complete ecology that Pope Benedict emphasises the importance of the teaching and insights of Pope Paul VI in the controversial and little understood Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae

For Benedict XVI a complete ecology is an ecology of the human heart, of the family, and of the sexual relationship between man and woman. It is an even more delicate and important eco-system

Reporting, this is not - at all

Continued from Page 9

teaching on human sexuality, it reveals a posture of distrust that is – in the modern world – one of the key obstacles to the New Evangelisation.

In a world where pseudo-events take the place of actual papal statements, and the guardians of journalistic truth prefer inventions to the hard-won, but glittering prize of discovery, Catholics and good writers everywhere would do well to adopt a maxim used by Lois Lane, that hardened, noble press hound in the Superman franchise:

“Believe none of what you hear. Half of what you see. And everything you write”. The idea is, of course, that if journalists are keeping strictly to the first two, the final truth of their statements, and the rigor of their headlines will not be in doubt.

John Heard is an Australian writer and a Catholic who is open about his own same-sex attraction. You can read more of his writing on sex, religion and politics at http://johnheard.blogspot.com and on Facebook, join the DREADNOUGHTERS group.

And what else?

■ By John

Thavis

As every year, the Pope met on December 22 with his top administrators to exchange Christmas greetings and review the year as it draws to a close. His talk was not a simple “Best of ‘08” list, however, but a probing analysis of what lies behind some of the Church’s most visible activities.

In particular, he offered his own take on two issues that prompted headlines in recent months, but whose meaning the Pope evidently believes is misunderstood: the international World Youth Day celebrations and the Vatican’s increasingly strong pronouncements on ecology; his comments on the latter were what caused the furore.

Recalling World Youth Day, he said fears of paralyzed traffic or public disturbances proved unfounded and the encounter turned out to be a “festival of joy.” But what kind of celebration was it? Some view these World Youth Day gatherings as the Church’s version of a rock concert, where the Pope is just the main attraction, he said.

than the precious goodness of air, water and earth although intrinsically linked to these as all creations of the Holy Spirit.

This approach may explain why it is the women of the African and Chinese villages and the Nimbin communes who most appreciate the translation of Humanae Vitae into natural fertility methods such as the work of Doctors John and Evelyn Billings. They and the Pope are more “deeply green” than many of Westerners who live a life divided between concerns for rainforests on the one hand but a complete disregard for their own sexual integrity. The created world and all that is in it, including the bodies and hearts of men, women and children are not merely fungible goods for sale, exploitation and dismemberment.

When his address is read alongside his exquisite Christmas Eve homily which sparkles with a joy and love for God and for his Creation the true radicality of the Pope’s ecology can be appreciated.

In almost Tolkien-esque vein touched by the cosmology of the great Psalms, the Pope proposes that it is not only men and angels that matter to God but also “the trees of the woods” who actually shout for joy. The Christmas Tree becomes not simply a bauble that is thrown on the rubbish heap on Boxing Day, but an icon of all creation joining in the great party hymn at the Birth of the Infant Jesus.

If the secular media read the Pope’s address rather than read into it their preoccupations and biases they might learn than ecological concern extends beyond the recycle bin and green house emissions calculations (important as these might be) and they might even catch some of his evident concern to restore humanity to a peaceful co-existence with itself and creation.

This is not something the Pope believes is the private property of Catholics but a joy that can touch the hearts and aspirations of the whole world.

The Pope responded by saying these objections don’t take into account the power of the Holy Spirit. It was typical of the academic pontiff that in explaining this point he quoted first the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who once said throwing a party wasn’t as hard as finding people able to attend it with joy.

Then he quoted St Paul, who said joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit - something abundantly evident at World Youth Day. He pointed out that the Australian assembly was the culmination of a long spiritual pilgrimage for the young participants, one focused intensely on Christ.

“So even the Pope is not the star around which all this turns,” he said.

Those who describe the youth encounters as the Catholic variant of rock festivals, he added, are really trying to remove the all-important “question of God” from the discussion.

The Pope said the Holy Spirit was the protagonist of another important event of 2008, the Synod of Bishops on Scripture. The synod emphasised that, far from being a dead letter, the word of God is alive and is speaking to contemporary Christians in a modern Pentecost, he said.

In ending his speech, the Pope returned to St Paul’s description of joy as a fruit of the Spirit. The Pope underlined a point he’s made occasionally throughout the year: that Christianity should be seen not as a religion of rules and prohibitions, but as a source of joy that springs from Christ’s salvation.

“He is joy. Joy is the gift in which all other gifts are summed up. It’s the expression of happiness, of being in harmony with oneself, which can only happen when one is in harmony with God and his creation,” he said.

The nature of joy is to radiate, and to want to communicate itself to others - and in a nutshell, that’s the missionary spirit of the Church, he said.

He left his Roman Curia members with his Christmas wish: that this kind of joy stay alive and spread through a world filled with tribulations.

Tender Care: As the Pope has pointed out, concern for the environment is important, but not as important as concern for the human ecology - a world view centred on the human person made in the image of God. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Listening to the voices of the children

As was seen from the reaction to the Pope’s speech on human ecology even comments interpreted as containing implied criticisms run the risk of causing outrage. So what about those who tell their own stories?

■ By Marjorie Campbell

As a clinical law professor in 1986, I represented six-year-old Tiffany in a proceeding to terminate her mother’s parental rights.

It was a heart-breaking and difficult case because the motherdaughter bond was strong - and hugely inappropriate. My little client’s mother, it seemed, had not let her beloved daughter out of sight, even when turning the tricks of her trade as a prostitute.

This otherwise normal-appearing child had acquired shockingly explicit language and sexual behaviours sitting on the edge of mommy’s bed; Tiffany could not function in school because of her aggressive sexual advances toward other children.

Back then, broad consensus existed that early sexualising of children constituted grave harm, even abuse, warranting state intervention to protect the best interests of the child.

That, of course, was back then - and in the context of heterosexuality and well-developed notions of sexual perversion. Now, everything’s different: The Culture of Adult Desire has filled and overflowed mainstream pursuits, pushing aside even simple safeguards for children, such as protecting them from explicitly sexual environments.

The classic consensus that young children should never, under any circumstances, consume sexually explicit material or witness sex acts or demonstrations has open challengers, such as the well-advertised attendance of children at the “world’s largest leather event,” the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco (featuring nudity, sadomasochistic and fetish dress, and public masturbation), the access to pornography in public libraries, and the mandatory education in some public schools on homosexuality as early as kindergarten.

What is “appropriate” sexual development for a child has, not surprisingly, come under debate as communities that identify themselves primarily by their gender orientation and sexual practices seek to raise children in their often sexually charged environments.

Dawn Stefanowicz’s Out from Under takes on gay parenting from one child’s perspective.

It is her candid account of life growing up “under” an exploitative father whose same-sex attraction blasted his life and the life of his wife and three children like a hurricane.

Stefanowicz’s early, explicit, and continuous exposure to sexobsessed gay subculture generated the subtitle of her chronicle, The Impact of Homosexual Parenting

With an amazing, faith-driven charity, Stefanowicz offers explanation, even understanding, for the lifestyle her father imposed on the family:

In many ways, he seemed as stubbornly wedged in the confusion of early adolescence as I was. He was never content with him-

self and was constantly trying to improve his appearance. He was often narcissistic, self-absorbed, and very needy for male affirmation and affection. His ideal sexual partner was someone who would be very sub-

ordinate to his demands without being effeminate. He used power in these relationships, often with men ten years his junior.

He carried a lot of unresolved anger, and had numerous and anonymous sexual partners, involved in many different kinds of sexual behaviour, including group sex.

So, of course, there would be jealousy and hurt feelings from time to time... there was that legion of spurned ex-partners who would no longer come around.

Various partners, we learn, lived with, visited, and travelled with the family, with no significant resistance from the author’s mother, a woman who was “primarily a reactor and hadn’t been the ultimate source of our family’s misery,” a woman who “lacked the strength of character” to risk her husband’s rejection, anger, and violence.

In her teen years, her father increasingly included her in his evenings of cruising, encouraged her to experiment sexually, and

One journalist who got it right

Among the few pleasant surprises of the media coverage of Pope Benedict’s remarks was the story filed by British journalist Rhiazza Butt (pictured second from left in foreground)

Ms Butt is the religious affairs correspondent for The Guardian, a British paper usually regarded as leaning strongly to the left politically and to liberal positions in religious and ethical issues.

The pleasure was that, almost alone among her global colleagues Ms Butt got it right.

Apart from her adherence to professional standards of reporting, an additional reason may be that Ms Butt also attended The Church Up Close - Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI, a week-long intensive seminar for journalists who cover the Church, held in Rome from September 8-14.

The seminar was organised by the School of Church Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Holy Cross was founded and is administered by Opus Dei.

The opening sentences of her story are as follows:

“Gay rights groups and activists yesterday

emphasised his own economic success as a model for her to follow. Only after his death from AIDS, and with the help of intensive therapy, did Stefanowicz come to accept that satisfying her life-long yearning for his unconditional love and nonsexual affection was never possible, and to heal the confused sexual identity that her father imposed upon her:

“What makes it so hard for a girl to grow up with a gay father is that she never gets to see him loving, honouring, or protecting the women in his life ... [and] being a woman was part of who I am.” That part, her authentic feminine identity, was rejected and oppressed in service to her father’s sports-like approach toward sexual activity, with its breathtaking disregard for the emotional and physical impact of the pursuit.

The author’s traumatic experience with gay parenting fairly raises the challenge to discuss - as openly and charitably as the author does herself - whether children can be raised healthily within subcultures that promote, support, and celebrate same-sex sexual behaviour as the primary source of adult identity.

Will such subcultures inevitably expose children to levels of sexuality long considered immoral and deleterious to the development of children, and certainly proven to be so by experiences reported in Out from Under?

Some gay parenting advocates will claim that their family environments need be no different than a functional heterosexual family. They might well point to the developing body of children’s books that present families with same-sex parents as loving, stable, and supportive.

My Daddy’s Roommate, published in 1991 as a picture-book for two- to five-year-olds, opens with one father’s divorce and his toddler’s narrative “Now there’s somebody new at Daddy’s house,” his roommate Frank.

Daddy and Frank, we learn from the child, do all the same things together that mummies and daddies do. So far so good, but is such a portrayal of the “two Daddy” household more wish or reality?

More honestly, gay parenting offers a challenge to the classic paradigm that protects children from adult sexuality and left my little

client Tiffany without a mother, in the care of the state.

In Tiffany’s case, the judge easily ruled that Tiffany’s viewing of her mother having sexual intercourse with men constituted adequate grounds for terminating her mother’s parental rights. Similar rulings, no doubt, still occur across the United States - bolstered by a strong, Supreme Court-approved federal anti-child pornography law (US v Williams, May 19, 2008).

But the consensus has clearly collapsed - as the nation witnessed and winked at photos of two-yearold, bottle-sipping, dog-collared twins Zola and Veronica with the bare-bottomed, leathered, fetish revellers at the Folsom Street Fair last year.

The girls’ two daddies told reporters: “Every parent has to decide for themselves what is right for them. And we decided that this is right for our children.”

Gender radicals and free-speech enthusiasts like Judith Levine (Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex)and Marjorie Heins (Not in Front of the Children: Indecency, Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth) offer a growing body of literature to support these dads’ exposure of young children to adult sexuality.

And the strong trend within the gay male community to redefine marriage as a non-monogamous living arrangement further portends mixing of adult sexual behaviour into the lives of young children, like that chronicled by Stefanowicz.

All of which underscores the importance of Stefanowicz’s brave and balanced voice. Zola and Veronica cannot - and may never be able to - speak for themselves and describe to legislators, politicians, and social experimentalists the horror of being collared and dragged to watch men masturbate in public.

But Stefanowicz has done so, without bitterness and with that endearing love girls so often hold for their fathers, no matter how dysfunctional and selfish their parenting. The question remains, will anyone listen?

Marjorie Campbell is a lawyer and speaker on social issues from a Catholic perspective. She lives in San Francisco with her family and blogs at www.dealwhudson.typepad.com.

- Insidecatholic.com

condemned passages in Pope Benedict XVI’s end-of-year address in which the pontiff spoke about gender and the important distinction between men and women.

“Speaking to the Curia, the Vatican’s central administration, the Pope said that the Church viewed the distinction as central to human nature, and “asks that this order, set down by creation, be respected. The Church, should protect man from the destruction of himself”. He said a sort of ecology of man was needed, adding: “The tropical forests do deserve our protection; but man, as a creature,

does not deserve any less.” He attacked what he described as “gender” theories which “lead towards the self-emancipation of man from creation and the creator”.

“Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, claimed the Pope had not wished specifically to attack homosexuality, and had not mentioned gays or lesbians in his text. Nevertheless, the speech provoked anger from campaigners, who interpreted the remarks as a papal call to save mankind from homosexuals and transsexuals.” These sentences convey the factual truth of what happened.

PANORAMA

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 will be a put into classifieds and charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Friday January 2

THE ALLIANCE, TRIUMPH AND REIGN OF THE UNITED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY

5.15pm at St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough. Confessions, Mass 5.45pm, followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, hourly Rosaries, hymns and reflections etc throughout the night. Vigil concludes with midnight Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Enq: Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Friday January 2

PRAISE AND WORSHIP

7pm at St Peter’s Parish, 93 Wood Street, Inglewood followed by Mass and light refreshments after Mass. All welcome and bring your family and friends. Enq: Maryanne 9354 1699

Friday January 2

MIDNIGHT MASS

11.55pm at Glendalough Parish Church, corner Leeder and Jugan Street, celebrated by Fr David Watt, preaching on Modern Means of Communication.

Saturday January 3

DAY WITH MARY

9am to 5pm at St Columba Church, Almondbury and Roberts Street, Bayswater. 9am Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday January 4

DIVINE MERCY

1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepperton Road and Harper Street, Victoria Park. Holy Rosary and Reconciliation. Sermon with Fr Joseph Asnabun on Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament followed by Divine Mercy and Benediction. Refreshments, followed by DVD on Body and Blood of Jesus Part 3 with Fr John Corapi. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Saturday January 10

ST PADRE PIO DAY OF PRAYER

8.30am at St Joachim Church, 122 Shepperton Road, Victoria Park; St Padre Pio DVD, 10am Exposition Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, silent Adoration and Benediction. 11am Holy Mass, celebrant Fr Tiziano Bogoni, St Padre Pio Liturgy. Confessions available. 12noon lunch bring a plate. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: 6278 1540.

Sunday January 25

PILGRIMAGE TO BOVE FARM SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

Exposition, Rosary, Divine Mercy Prayers, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and Praises of Divine Mercy. Holy Mass, celebrant Fr Douglas Harris and Fr Marcellinus Meilak, other Priests invited to concelebrate. Conclude with Divine Mercy Way of the Cross, for those able to walk the

Pope prays for families

■ By

Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS)Christmas celebrations underscore the importance of the family in people’s lives, but for many it also is a time when wounds caused by one’s family become more painful, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Reciting the Angelus Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Family, Pope Benedict prayed for families in difficulty and for family members

bushland. Refreshments and barbecue provided. Enq: South Perth – John 9457 7771, North Perth - Charles 9342 0653.

Friday January 23

MEDJUGORJE  EVENING OF PRAYER

7pm at Our Lady Queen of Peace at St Joachim’s Parish, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park; commencing with Adoration, Holy Rosary, Benediction and concluding with Holy Mass. Free inspirational DVD of Fr Donald Calloway on night. All warmly welcome. Enq Eileen 9402 2480.

Monday February 2

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

7pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton. Holy Mass followed by Novena devotions, procession, hoisting Our Lady of Lourdes Banner. Preacher Fr J Carroll CSsR. Conclude with get together. Bring Plate. Feast day 11 February, 7pm Mass followed by candlelight procession to Grotto, conclude with farewell for Fr Carroll. Enq: Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

Every Sunday

DIVINE MERCY PRAYER AS NOVENA

3pm St Aloysius Church, 84 Keightley Road, West Shenton Park, commencing 14 December. An opportunity for all to gather once a week and say the powerful Divine Mercy, Eucharistic Adoration, healing prayers followed by Holy Mass at 4pm. Enq: 9381 5383.

Every 1st Thursday of the Month

PRAYER AND MEDITATION SERVICE USING SONGS FROM TAIZE

7.30pm at Our Lady of Grace, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach. The service is a prayerful meditation in which we sing beautiful chants from Taize together, spend time in prayerful, meditative silence, bathed in candlelight reflecting upon themed readings. Enq: Beth 9447 0061.

Every First Friday and Saturday of Month

COMMUNION OF REPARATION  ALL NIGHT VIGIL

7pm Friday at Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park, 47 Lochee Road. Mass with Fr Bogoni and concluding with midnight Mass. Confessions, Rosaries, Prayers and silent hourly adoration. Please join us for reparation to Two Hearts according to the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357.

Every First Friday

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough. Mass celebrated by Fr Saminedi. 7.30pm, Adoration with Fr Don Kettle. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

The Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal will be offered every Sunday at 2pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, 40-42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott, with Rosary preceding. All welcome.

who are sick or out of work.

“Christmas is the family celebration par excellence,” the pope told visitors in St. Peter’s Square.

“This is demonstrated by many traditions and social customs, especially gathering together as a family to share festive meals and exchange best wishes and gifts.” But, he said, it also is a time when “the discomfort and pain caused by certain family wounds are amplified.”

The pope prayed that all Christian families would model their relationships on those of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, working together, trusting in God and taking care of one another.

Speaking in Spanish, he sent

Every 4th Sunday of the Month

HOLY HOUR PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

2-3pm at Infant Jesus Church, Wellington Road, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Let us implore God to rain an abundance of new life into our Church, open our hearts and those of the young people of the world to hear His Word for us now, today. All welcome! Enq: 9276 8500.

Every Sunday

PILGRIM MASS

2pm at Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook; with Rosary and Benediction. Reconciliation is available in Italian and English. Anointing of the sick, second Sunday during Mass. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin; last Sunday of month. Side entrance and shrine open daily between 9am and 5pm. Enq: 9447 3292.

Every Tuesday

NOVENA TO GOD THE FATHER

7.30pm St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park; incorporating a Bible teaching, a Perpetual Novena to God the Father and Hymns. Light refreshments will follow. Bring a Bible and a friend. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every Monday

ADORATION, RECONCILIATION AND MASS

7pm at St Thomas, corner Melville and College Roads, Claremont; Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Evening Prayer and Benediction, spend 40 minutes quietly before our Lord for the health, faith and safety of yourself and your loved ones; Reconciliation 7.30pm, Mass and Night Prayer 8pm.

Every Thursday

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

11pm to midnight at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton. Enq: Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

Every Friday

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

9am to 6pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton. Enq: Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

Every Saturday

HOLY SPIRIT OF FREEDOM CHARISMATIC PRAYER MEETING

10.30am to 12.30pm at St Peter the Apostle Church Hall, 91 Wood Street, Inglewood. All are most welcome.

Every Sunday

MUSICIANS AND SINGERS

6pm at the Redemptorist Monastery Church, Vincent Street, North Perth; the Shalomites have been providing the music and singing for over thirty years. We are looking for new members. All interested singers and musicians welcome. Enq: Stephen or Sheelagh 9339 0619.

his best wishes to people gathered in Madrid, Spain, “to pray for the family and to commit themselves to working on its behalf with strength and hope.”

“The family certainly is a grace of God, which allows us to see who he is: love,” Pope Benedict said.

“Dear families, do not let your love, your openness to life and the incomparable bonds that unite your home diminish,” he said.

“Constantly ask the Lord for this; pray together so that your plans may be enlightened by faith and strengthened by divine grace.”

The pope said he is close to all the world’s families, “praying to the Lord especially for those in every family who have greater

Every 1st Sunday of Month

DIVINE MERCY

Commencing with 3 o’clock Prayer at Santa Clara Parish, Bentley, followed by the Chaplet, reflection and Benediction. All friends and neighbouring parishes invited. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Muriel 9458 2944.

Every 2nd Wednesday of Each Month

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

7.30 pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road, Bateman. All welcome to a beautiful, prayerful, and sung devotion. Enq: George 9310 9493 home or 9325 2010 work.

Every Thursday

JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE

7.30pm, Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation, Osborne Park. Using The Bible Timeline, The Great Adventure can be studied towards accredited course or for interest. Resources provided. See www.acts2come. wa.edu.au/ or Jane 0401 692 690.

Every Last Saturday of Month

NOVENA DEVOTIONS TO OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH, VAILANKANNI

5pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton, followed by Vigil Mass at 6pm. Enq: Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jesuit Volunteers Australia calls for part-time volunteers to respond to the needs of people in the community who live in marginalised circumstances. At the heart of this program is a reflective process, based on Gospel values, which underpins the work of the volunteers. Enq: Kevin 9316 3469 or kwringe@iinet.net.au, www.jss.org.au

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

We urgently need donations of Altar Vessels, Catholic books, Bibles, Divine Office, Missals, Lectionaries, Sacramentaries etc. Telephone: (08) 9293 3092.

MEMORIES OF AFRICA CHOIR

Calling all, to come and join this small but vibrant group. Come let us sing and praise God with the African melody and rhythm. Enq: Bibiana, 9451 6602 after 6pm.

ACCOMMODATION NEEDED

Female overseas student aged 23, with 3 months old baby, needs accommodation and support with a family, preferably north of the river for approximately 12 months. Phone: Lydia, Pregnancy Assistance, 9328 2929.

INTERPARISH SOCCER: A NOTICE TO ALL PARISHES

The young parishioners in Lockridge are interested in having soccer matches against other parishes. It is a great way for a bit of ‘friendly rivalry’; keep up fitness whilst having fun and all in a good atmosphere. Enq: 0433 646 208 or 0431 951 772.

need for health, work, comfort and companionship.”

“We entrust to the Lord every family, especially those most tried by the difficulties of life and by the wounds of misunderstanding and division,” he said. He also asked people to pray for the success of the Sixth World Meeting of Families, which will take place in Mexico City Jan. 14-18. The Pontifical Council for the Family is organizing the event.

Next Week in The Record, a wrap-up of the year that was 2008, in international, national and local news.

in brief...

Still troubled in the Congo

KINSHASA, Congo (CNS) - A Catholic Church official said the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army is killing Congolese civilians to avenge military attacks by the Congolese army.

“It is the civilian population who are paying the price of this violence,” said St Joseph Sister Marie-Bernard Alima, executive secretary of the Congolese bishops’ justice and peace commission. Sister Marie-Bernard told Catholic News Service on Dececmber 29 that 50 bodies were found in the courtyard of a Catholic church in Doruma on Christmas morning.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, has been blamed for the church massacre as well as continued tensions in northeastern Congo. In early December, Ugandan, Congolese and southern Sudanese forces launched an offensive on the group. Sister Marie-Bernard said the local justice and peace commission currently is taking scores of people to the local hospital.

“There are many people who were wounded by machete in the attacks; several people suffered amputations. The priority of the justice and peace workers is to ensure that these people now receive medical attention,” she said.

“The situation in the Doruma and Faradje region grew very violent” in late December and “several civilians were killed in surrounding villages during these days - around 200 bodies were found,” she said.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUC, deplored the violence in the region. They called on the local army to intervene in a way that “respects humanitarian law and with care to avoid reprisals against the civilian population.”

Stewardship

EPIPHANY

The three wise men who came from the East to pay homage to the infant Jesus brought Him rich gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as part of their worship. What gifts have I brought to this celebration to offer to the newborn Saviour?

For further information on how stewardship can build your parish community, call Brian Stephens on 9422 7924.

Walking with Him Daily Mass Readings

4 S THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Solemnity

Wh Isa 60:1-6 The Lord’s glory

Ps 71:1-2.7-8.10-13 Just judgment

Eph 3:2-3.5-6 Mystery previously unknown

Mt 2:1-12 Magi pay homage

5 M Wh 1Jn 3:22-4:6 Believe in God’s Son

Ps 2:7-8.10.11 You are my Son

Mt 4:12-17.23-25 A great light

6 T Wh 1Jn 4:7-10 Love one another

Ps 71:1-4.7-8 King to judge justly

Mk 6:34-44 A lonely place

7 W ST RAYMOND OF PENYAFORT, priest (O)

Wh 1Jn 4:11-18 God will live in us

Ps 71:1-2.10-13 Pity on the weak

Mk 6:45-52 Went off to pray

8 Th 1Jn 4:19-5:4 God loved us first

Wh

Ps 71:1-2.14-15.17 Bless god’s name Lk 4:14-22 Reputation spread

9 F 1Jn 5:5-13 Water and blood

Wh

Ps 147:12-15.19-20 Praise your God Lk 5:12-16 Be cured!

10 S 1Jn 5:14-21 Jesus will hear us

Wh

Name:

Address:

Suburb:

Postcode:

Telephone:

Ps 149:1-6.9 Praise his name Jn 3:22-30 I must grow smaller

ADVERTISEMENTS

Classifieds: $3.30/line incl. GST Deadline: 12pm Monday

ACCOMMODATION NEEDED

Female overseas student, 23 yo, with 3 mth old baby, needs accomm and support with a family, preferably north of the river for approx. 12 mths. Ph Lydia at Pregnancy Assistance, 9328 2929.

BUILDING TRADES

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■ PICASSO PAINTING

Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

BOOK REPAIRS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Work from home - Call 02 8230 0290, or visit website www.dreamlife1.com

HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION

■ DUNSBOROUGH

Beach cottage, 3 bedrooms, sleeps 7, 300m to Quindalup beach. Great price for Dunsborough! Tel: Sheila 9309 5071 / 0408 866 593 or email: shannons3s@optusnet.com.au

EDUCATION/COUNSELLING

Accredited experiential “Advanced Diploma of Educational Counselling” (Theology & Psychology) also relationship and faith building courses for parents and youths. Ph 9418 1439.

■ CATHOLIC COUNSELLING

Call Jole (M. Counselling, M. Theology, B Bus.) Catholic Counsellor (Aust Counselling Assoc. Member). Holistic (Mind-Body-Spirit) approach to issues of anxiety, relationship, faith, anger, addiction, grief, trauma etc. Individual, couples, family and children. Contact: 0418 345 356 jole. counselling@gmail.com

MUSIC

■ ORGAN

Yamaha El 25 in excellent condition. $2000 ono. Contact St Luke’s Parish, Woodvale 08 9409 6291

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

PERSONALS

■ CHRISTIAN SINGLES

Widowed, divorced or never married. All age groups. Meet-for-Drinks, Dinner Seminars and Individual Dates. Phone 9472 8218. Tues-Fri 10am - 6pm. www.figtrees.com.au

■ SEEKING LADY

Guy 40s tall n/smoker education social drinker, conservative, loyal, creative, likes reading, café food styles, walking, swimming. Down to earth. Reasonable ambitions, dry SOH seeks lady friendship view to a long-term relationship. Marriage if culturally compatible and complementary. Some or more Christian values. Ph 0419 543 093 (afternoon) or e-mail e_aanet@aanet.com.au

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ KINLAR VESTMENTS

‘Modern meets tradition.’ Quality hand-made & decorated. Vestments, altar cloths, banners. Vickii Smith Veness. 9402 8356 or 0409 114 093.

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, baptism/communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Court (off McCoy St), Myaree, 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 TRINITY ARCADE (Terrace Level) Hay St, Perth Ph 9322 4520. Convenient city location for a good selection of Christian products/ gifts. We also have handbags, fashion accessories. Opening hours Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.

SETTLEMENTS

EFFECTIVE LEGAL, family owned law firm focusing on property settlements and wills. If you are buying, selling or investing in property, protect your family and your investment, contact us on (08) 9218 9177.

Protestants, Catholics, let it go

And remember, Paul was converted to a person, not a doctrine...

The preacher of the Pontifical Houshold used his December 12 address during his Advent reflections to tell the world that St Paul teaches us much about dealing with centuriesold tensions between Christian denominations, and for our own daily lives.

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) - It is time to go beyond old points of division between Catholics and Protestants and focus on what is at stake at the start of the third millennium, says Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa.

The day’s meditation was titled “Called by God to Communicate With His Son, Jesus Christ.”

The reflection followed the methodology of “lectio divina,” offering a consideration of a passage from St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.

Father Cantalamessa began with a look at Paul’s conversion, not as a conversion to a doctrine, but to a person. “Before a change of thought, his was a change of heart, the encounter with a living person,” he said.

This conversion was Paul falling in love with Christ, the Capuchin said.

“The effect of falling in love is double. On one hand there is a drastic reduction to one, a concentration on the person loved that makes all the rest of the world pass to a second plane; on the other hand, it renders one capable of suffering anything for the person loved, accepting the loss of everything. We see both these effects realised to perfection at the moment in which the Apostle discovers Christ.”

Father Cantalamessa said that Paul’s personal experience led him to “a global vision of Christian life that he indicates with the expression ‘in Christ,’” which occurs 83 times in Pauline writings.

“Rightly, beginning to be considered today, also in the heart of the Protestant world, is the vision synthesised in the expression ‘in Christ’ or ‘in the Spirit’ as more central and representative of Paul’s thought than the doctrine itself of justification through faith,” the preacher contended. “

The Pauline Year might be revealed as the providential occasion to close a whole period of discussions and disagreements linked more to the past than to the present, and to open a new chapter in the use of the Apostle’s thought.

“To return to his letters, in the first place the Letter to the Romans, for the purpose for which they were written which was not, of course, that of furnishing future generations with a gymnasium in which to exercise their theological acumen, but that of edifying the faith of the community, formed in the main by simple and illiterate people.”

Christocentric

Father Cantalamessa went on to propose that it is time to “go beyond the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.”

What good does it do, he considered, to take up Luther’s problem of how to liberate man from a sense of guilt, when today the problem is how to give again to man a true meaning of sin that has been lost. “What sense does it make to continue to discuss how

‘justification of the godless comes about,’ when man is convinced of not having need of any justification,” the Capuchin asked.

He contended that the centuries of discussion between Catholics and Protestants about faith and works have “ended up by making us lose sight of the main point of the Pauline message, often shifting attention from Christ to doctrines on Christ, in practice, from Christ to men.”

“This message of the Apostle on the centrality of Christ is of great importance today,” Father Cantalamessa continued. “Many factors have led in fact to put his person in parenthesis today.”

Christ’s approach

The Pontifical Household preacher then turned his attention to what Paul’s example means for believers’ spiritual lives. He reflected on the topic in Catholic spirituality of the “thought of the presence of God.”

“On this point, St Paul’s thought can help us to overcome the difficulty that has led to the decline of the spirituality of the presence of God,” Father Cantalamessa said.

“He always speaks of a presence of God ‘in Christ.’ An irreversible and unsurpassable presence. There is no stage of the spiritual life in which one can make less of Christ, or go ‘beyond Christ.’ Christian life is a ‘hidden life with Christ in God’.”

“What derives on the practical plane?” he asked. “That we can do everything ‘in Christ’ and ‘with Christ,’ whether we eat, or sleep, or do any other thing, says the Apostle.

“The Risen One is not present only because we think about him, but is really beside us; it is not us who must, with thought and imagination, go back to his earthly life and represent to ourselves the episodes of his life […] it is he, the Risen One, who comes toward us.

“It is not us that, with imagination, must become contemporaries of Christ; it is Christ who really makes himself our contemporary.”

Empty hands

Finally, Father Cantalamessa considered Paul’s declaration that “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” This “forget-

ting,” the preacher proposed, is detachment from any good that one has done in the service of the Church, “repeating to oneself, according to Christ’s suggestions: ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

In this regard, he concluded with a Christmas reflection: “This emptying of one’s hands and pockets of every pretension, in a spirit of poverty and humility, is the best way to prepare for Christmas.

“We are reminded of it by a delightful Christmas legend that I would like to mention again.

“It narrates that among the shepherds who ran on Christmas night to adore the Child, there was one who was so poor that he had nothing to offer and was very ashamed. Reaching the grotto, all competed to offer their gifts. Mary did not know what to do to receive them all, having to hold the Child in her arms. Then, seeing the shepherd with his hands free, she entrusted Jesus to him. To have empty hands was his fortune and, on another plane, will also be ours.”

Bright Spark

Saint Paul was smart. Even from prison he could preach by writing. The 2nd Reading for Epiphany comes this way. By now Paul’s had 25 years to meditate on the mystery of Christ. That’s what he calls it –a mystery.

Paul is in Rome under house arrest but in chains with a soldier guard 24/7 for two years. Believers in Rome provide food for him. He has time to write and write he does. His letter to Ephesians comes at this time. For 2000 years we have wrestled with the deeper meaning.

Epiphany celebrates the glory of God come in a man, Jesus Christ. Everyone in the world can share in it. No-one is a migrant or tourist in God’s country, the earth. Everyone can belong to the household of God. Christ is the head, we are the body. Light has shone on all. The darkness of the past is lit by Christ. And Jesus is that bright light – more than a spark.

Paul also teaches those who come to him in house arrest. He is detained in his own lodgings. Twice he even calls the leading Jews to hear his own defence. Even 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection, Christians had not broken from the first chosen people even in Rome.

The letters of Paul to Ephesians and Colossians have similar themes. Paul counters something like New Age today. He also speaks in language that is an enormous challenge to Jehovah Witnesses. He speaks in terms of infinite about Jesus Christ. Jehovah Witnesses do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Four times in the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul uses words that mean infinite of God the Father. Slap bang in the middle of these four, Paul speaks of the infinite treasure of Christ. (Greek: anexichniaston – infinite, limitless.)

Ref. Acts 28:17-31; Eph.3:8.

A regular feature to mark the Year of St Paul by an archdiocesan preist.

Enlightening: Fr Raniero Cantalamessa gives a sermon in 2007.

The man, the vision: A spotlight illuminates the statue of St Paul in the courtyard of the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome in 2007. The St. Paul’s Colloquium, an ecumenical initiative sponsored by the basilica’s Benedictine community, has been meeting at the basilica every two years since 1968.

Lonesome: A man sits by himself during a prayer service led by Benedict XVI closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity where Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox representatives met in Rome in January 2008.